The Lengths We Must Go To
by Thisdudeintheback
Summary: Jaune Arc is your average high school student attending Beacon Academy. He plays baseball on the varsity team with his best friend, and he fantasises about his high school crush during class. When Jaune is asked to check on another student after he disappeared from class. Jaune's life changes forever, and he must do everything to make sure he, his friends, and his family survive.
1. Day One

**Welcome to my fourth fic ladies and gents.**

 **For this particular piece, we must put our science hats on and do a little bit virology and basic biology. The main antagonist in this fic is not the Grimm, but it is the ravenous cordyceps infected humans that hunger for your flesh! That's right boys and girls, we got some mushroom zombies from The Last of Us coming out to play! Although these zombies are not from The Last of Us. They are just people infected with Cordyceps Unilateralis. So they're not zombies, just sick people.**

 **I combed over the two types of zombie apocalypse scenarios that could work (I had to decide between 28 Days Later and The Last of Us.) Basically, two different infections that could be created in real life. One of which already exists! Cordyceps can already hijack the nervous systems of insects and potentially humans if we played the genome (I'm going to write my doctoral thesis over this.) Out of all the different zombies I could choose from, a fungus is the most probable in my opinion. Humans that have been taken over by a parasitic fungus that forces them to be carriers for the fungal infection. Best of all! If you have studied cordyceps you will know that it has an airborne form! Spores! But I will also make these zombies bite because of reasons!**

 **And now, for the juicy part. Jaune will be courting both Blake and Yang! Trust me, I will make it work!**

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 **Edit Note: Forgot to add this. But we shall record time in this fic by days. This will be Day One of the outbreak from Jaune's perspective. Also retconned and removed any mention of zombies in the story. This world doesn't have zombies as a concept.**

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 **Day One**

Calculus Two. Another boring class on another dreary day. The dull life of Jaune Arc never gifted him with any surprises. The one and the only thing that could make this day any more terrible for a junior in high school? Jaune daydreaming about his current heartthrob, Yang Xiao Long.

See, Jaune and Yang had met maybe three years ago. During their eighth grade year at Signal Academy. Their fathers introduced the two at a military dinner, and they talked for a little while; nothing came of it, of course. They considered each other friends at an arm's length after the meeting but continued being cordial to one another as the two went to Beacon Academy as freshmen.

The only word that Jaune could meaningfully describe Yang with was, "Awesome." Everything about her rocked. The way she walked, talked, danced, how she looked, and her cocky badassness. Yang was the captain of the varsity cheer squad, and probably the most popular girl at the school. Guys were lining up out the door and around the block for a chance to ask her out.

Now, Jaune was... Jaune. He may have been the pitcher on the varsity baseball team, but he was socially awkward. Afraid of being put on the spot and while outgoing, he tended to fall back into his shell when someone more dominant came along. And Jaune would say the wrong things at the wrong time which didn't earn him any luck with women. Basically, average on all accounts with the exception that he was in good shape. Not to mention that he was a shut-in and only kept three or four friends at a time, and was not in the, "In," group as Yang was.

Jaune started crushing on Yang when they began their sophomore year. The two were in the same classes bar their P.E class. He wanted to ask her out for the last year and never managed to work the courage up to do so. The last thing he wanted was to be humiliated in front of a group of students when he was shot down. Jaune merely accepted he wasn't good enough for her, but the feelings remained.

Jaune looked around, observing his surroundings and making a note of the minute details of the room. The burgundy tiles of the floor matched with the walnut on the borders of every wall. Desks were lined up in five rows of ten — many seats unoccupied due to students calling out sick. Only half of the class was present today.

Jaune scanned the room his eyes eventually leading him to the middle of the third row. He sat in the far back, in the eighth row. Still, he could see his high school crush sitting at her desk. Yang leaned slightly to the left, her head cradled by her left arm. Her flowing blonde mane shining in the light. She glanced towards the back of the room, and Jaune turned his head to the side.

"Dude will you stop staring at her, and just ask her out," a student to Jaune's side whispered to the daydreaming blonde. "Monty Oum, it's been like this for the last year and a half." Jaune looked over to the white-haired boy sitting next to him. Surveying his untidy uniform with the top two buttons unbuttoned and upturned collar. The slightly opened dress shirt showed off his fair skin and toned chest. Classic badboy look from all those anime and high school dramas.

That was Dante, Jaune's best and only real friend since ending up at Beacon. Dante Aubreai was a dog faunus with a human mother and a faunus father. Jaune was one of his first friends at the academy, and they both went through an episode of bullying at Beacon during their freshman year. Dante was targeted for his race, and Jaune was harassed for being friends with him. It ended after their first year was over and the two men established themselves at Beacon. But there was the occasional obscenity thrown at Dante.

Dante played on the baseball team with Jaune and had substantially more friends then he did. Nowhere near as popular as Cardin Winchester or Jaune's older and twin sister, Vi, and Marron. Relegated to a semi-loser status like Jaune was. But he was confident in himself and brazenly arrogant. Preferring to fling himself headfirst at a problem or person to solve it.

Dante leaned in closer to Jaune. "You better hurry up, before Yang decides she wants a boyfriend and skips over you because you were too scared to ask her out." He had also been the biggest proponent of getting Jaune to ask out his high school crush. Actually just getting Jaune a girlfriend or any friends outside of himself.

"I don't know dude," Jaune grumbled. He was afraid to even think about trying to gather that courage again only for Jaune to shy away at the moment of truth. "What if she says no?! People will talk about it, and I'll look like a dumbass?" Most guys worst fear at some point during their lifetime. Being rejected by a girl felt like an icy dagger through the heart. Hurts like hell and takes forever to go away.

"That's why you just have to go for it," Dante urged his best friend. "Like I'm going to ask Marron out whether you're ok with it or not!" Jaune took a second to catch up. He was not, 'Ok,' with the idea his best friend was going to ask his sister out! Being his twin sister actually was more of an offence!

"What," Jaune almost shouted. "Of course I'm not ok with it! That's my twin sister!" Dante grew a dumbass looking smirk as he looked forward. He already made up his mind and didn't care for Jaune's opinion on the matter.

"Dude, I've been crushing on her since last spring! Besides would you rather have a guy you know dating your sister or some dude like Cardin Winchester or one of his buddies?" He was making an excellent case, and Jaune didn't like it. Sure he trusted Dante and his parents knew Jaune's parents. So if anything happened, Dante would be well and truly fucked if he hurt Marron.

"Fine," Jaune grunted. "But if you hurt her-"

"You'll castrate me with a spoon and do other unspeakable things to me," Dante finished Jaune's threat. "I've heard it all before!" Jaune could only do so much to cause pain if his sisters were hurt. He loved his sisters and would do anything for them, bar a few exceptions. Jaune's parents, Nicholas and Claire, would be willing to go to the ends of the earth for their children. They could make Dante's life a living hell.

"Now class, remember the trick to solving anti-derivatives. It will be very-." Dr Oobleck was cut off by a student raising their hand. "What is it, Mr Winchester?" Jaune and Dante both looked to the front of the classroom. They could see the back of the massive ginger in the front row.

"Can I use the restroom? I'm feeling kind of light-headed." He asked like a pompous dickhead. Cardin was known for being an asshole to everyone besides his coaches and his buddies. Jaune had no idea how he wasn't kicked out of the academy yet. There was enough cause to warrant expulsion and other kids were thrown out of the academy for less.

"Hurry, up and take care of your business. I'd rather not have to interrupt class any longer because you decided to go mess around in the bathroom." Cardin got up and went for the door. Jaune eyed the bandage on the side of Cardin's neck. The ginger had a pale complexion and genuinely looked ill. It was a wonder as to why he even showed up to school today looking like this. Jaune guessed truancy would stop him from playing sports.

Cardin was the captain of the varsity football team. A position he used to shit on everybody who was not a football player or person of similar social standing. He screwed with Jaune during their freshmen year, but Dante came along and beat Cardin's ass forcing the ginger to leave the two alone. Cardin was also a racist, who's discrimination and harassment forced several students to leave the school. One of those faunus happened to be Jaune's lifelong friend, Blake Belladonna. In summary, he was an unredeemable asshole — someone who Jaune loathed with every fibre of his being.

"Jeez, what do you think happened to Cardin's neck," Dante asked with a laid-back attitude. There were probably a lot of things that could have happened. It was a Monday, and everyone just came off a three-day break. Students often partied or went on trips outside of Vale.

"He probably got drunk or high again, and one of his goons did something to his neck." Jaune didn't really care what happened to him, so long as it hurt. If one of Cardin's friends was so kind as to, tattoo, "I am a racist," on the side of his neck. Jaune's whole next year would be made!

"An aggressive make-out session," Dante suggested. "Some girls like to be rough!" Like Jaune knew how that went! He hasn't gotten his first kiss in yet! Making-out is like an entire world away from him at the moment. But somebody tearing out a chunk of Cardin's neck during intimacy was a bit far-fetched unless Cardin was into some weird shit that could only be found in the deepest parts of every porn site.

"No girl is ever that rough," Marron turned around and halted that line of thought. She was seated one row in front of Jaune and Dante. "He probably got hurt playing football with his friends." A likely story, but Jaune still liked the tattoo idea and the make-out session. His money was on the former of the two.

Jaune's sister tried not to think ill of anyone, but if there were somebody she didn't like, it would be Cardin. She was one of the varsity cheerleaders and Yang's friend. The only reason Marron had yet to file a sexual harassment claim against Cardin was her kind nature. Cardin had a bit of an infatuation with Jaune's sister and tried to claim her as his own. The ginger would butt heads with anyone that would try to get close with Marron and established his territory. Marron, of course, told Cardin to fuck right off, in a polite manner.

Marron was also the only reason Jaune had any contact with Yang. She would bring Yang over to hang-out, and Jaune would have some sort of interaction with her whenever Marron busted into their shared room. Jaune was nearly caught several times reading fanfiction on his computer and really needed to turn on the sleep mode so it would shut off when he forgot to close his laptop.

...

The one and a half hour class that was gifted to the Beacon Academy students by their block schedule still had twenty minutes left. Dr Oobleck had finished his lecture and allowed the students to work on their homework until the end of class. Jaune had already completed his homework, and Marron copied it, so they just sat and chatted for some time. Dante and Yang joined in, abandoning their work in favour of conversation as well.

"Mr Aubreai Ms Xiao Long and Ms Arc," Dr Oobleck exclaimed, leaning up against the whiteboard. "If the three of you would do their work and not copy off of Mr Arc, I would allow you to converse quietly. Seeing as none of you has actually finished their problems; I recommend you use this time wisely and complete the assigned lesson." Some of the other students giggled as their peers were scolded. All four of the victims' faces flushed as they were called out. Jaune didn't want this to happen because it was embarrassing. Dante and Yang could at least shake it off, but Jaune wasn't like that. It stuck and burned his cheeks for several more minutes.

"And where is Mr Winchester," Oobleck yelled as he checked his scroll. "I swear I should not have ever let him leave this room without escorting him to his destination!" Huh, Cardin wasn't back yet? It had almost been an hour, and there was no snarky comment or stupid question. How had Jaune not noticed his absence? "

"I can get him," Dove insisted as he stood up.

"Sit down," Oobleck ordered. "You and Mr Winchester would merely go on an adventure if I let you out of this room!" Damn, Dr Oobleck wasn't taking anybody's shit today! The doctor was never one to let his students fool around during class. It could potentially jeopardise their success and Oobleck wanted everyone to succeed. He had to be forceful about it sometimes to get his point across, and that entailed having to embarrass his students.

"Mr Arc, would you be so kind as to check on Mr Winchester?" Jaune froze upon hearing his request. He really didn't want to leave the room especially because he had to go after Cardin. But it would look bad if he just refused Dr Oobleck outright. "Seeing as you are the only one finished with their assignments. If you could merely pop your head in there and see if he is still in the restroom."

"Sure," Jaune reluctantly agreed. All he needed to do was take a quick look and be back in the class in time for the bell. If Cardin were smoking weed or getting a blowjob in the bathroom, it would be an open and shut case. Jaune would have to avoid being seen when he was checking the restroom. _Why did I agree to this?!_

...

Jaune quietly closed the door behind him. "Here goes nothing," he whispered to himself. Hopefully, Cardin ditched class, and Jaune wouldn't have to be stuck in a bathroom with him for any longer than five seconds. Jaune could come up with an excuse as to why he was in the restroom. Runny noses and a scarcity of tissue boxes seemed like a good enough lie.

He silently walked through the halls on his way to the bathroom. Jaune passed by Mr Port, who was on his planning period, and then a few students idly chatting in the hallway. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Jaune hadn't run into Ms Goodwitch either. He wouldn't have trouble if he stumbled upon the headmistress. Jaune was in good standing with all of the teachers at the academy.

Jaune approached the steel-framed door of the men's restroom. The frame was painted dark-brown to match the dark tint of the wood trimming on the walls and ceiling. The door itself was oak with an unpainted steel handle. Jaune peeked over his shoulder and found nobody there. He pushed on the steel handle, and the heavy door gave in to Jaune's weight.

Light-brown assorted tiles lined every surface of the men's bathroom. The ceiling was the same milk-chocolate shade as the walls. Jaune turned to his right and saw the large mirror and the reflection that was in it. Four beige coloured stalls and four urinals lined the left wall. He stepped inside letting the door softly close behind him. What Jaune beheld horrified him.

There were spatters of blood all over the floor. Someone had coughed or thrown up blood onto the tile and into the sink. Large handprints were scattered among the puddle of crimson fluid. One on the counter left a downwards trail as if the person fell. The droplets led to the last stall — the only one that was closed.

"Cardin," Jaune nervously called out. Every part of his body told him to run. Jaune didn't know where all of the blood came from. If Cardin was stabbed, someone needed to help him. Jaune's breath shuddered as he took three steps forward. "Cardin," Jaune asked again with more volume to his voice. A small groan or growl came from that last stall. It sounded like Cardin, but there was an animalistic vibrato paired with the grunt.

The stall opened slowly with an excruciating squeal. The groan became a gurgle as something clambered to its feet. Jaune froze in fear as the person stood fully erect and took a half step into the light. Cardin stumbled into view. The front of his blazer and white dress shirt were stained in his blood. The trail lead to his mouth and horribly disfigured face. His pale-white complexion allowed dark black veins to show through. Two sunken eyes stared back at Jaune with a deep insatiable hunger.

"C-Cardin," Jaune stuttered. The other male responded with a loud will-shattering growl. Jaune took a step back, and Cardin lunged at him. The slippery floors caused Jaune to stumble, and he landed on his back. He pushed himself towards the door as Cardin fast approached!

Cardin descended upon Jaune attempting to go for his throat. The smaller male kept him far enough away while the creature clawed at him. Blood splashed onto Jaune's clothes as the gaping maw snapped at him. Jaune screamed for help in the vain attempt someone would come and save him. "Ohhh, fuck! SHIT-FUCK!"

Jaune manoeuvred his feet onto Cardin's chest. With all the force he could muster, Jaune pushed and threw the creature backwards. Cardin tried to reach for something to grab onto. He hit the far wall and stopped moving. Jaune forced himself to his feet to hopefully escape Cardin. _Holy fucking shit!_

The creature lunged at Jaune again. The boy stepped to his left and eluded Cardin's assault. With one swift motion, Jaune redirected Cardin's face into the stone counter-top. A sickening crunch followed as the creature's face and skull crumbled under the blow.

...

Jaune pulled the door open and stumbled out. The tears running down his face mingled with the blood and the saliva staining his shirt. Jaune fell onto his rear and pushed himself towards the farthest wall from the bathroom. His body couldn't muster the strength to run.

"Oh my god," Ms Goodwitch exclaimed as she slid next to Jaune. She said something over her radio, but Jaune didn't catch it. He could only hear the ringing in his ears. Everything was spinning, and Jaune felt the urge to throw up.

 _What happened in there?!_ Cardin wouldn't have tried to attack someone like that even if he were the school bully. Something was seriously wrong, and Jaune waltzed right into it.

"Mr Arc... JAUNE!" Goodwitch snapped him back to reality. The tears were still rolling down Jaune's cheeks as she looked him up and down for injuries. Another faculty member rushed over to help. They towelled off Jaune's hands with warm water to clean the blood from the limbs.

"Jaune, I need to know what happened," Goodwitch demanded an explanation from the boy. Her stoic face cracked and showed inklings of fear and concern. "We heard screams and came running!"

"C-Cardin," Jaune mustered as he choked on the rest of the words. He shut his eyes forced the lump in his throat down. "H-He attacked me! D-Dr Oobleck asked me to check on h-him! T-There was blood everywhere!" Jaune began sobbing as those final words came out of his mouth.

Goodwitch pulled him into a hug. "Amanda! Call the police and an ambulance!" Jaune held onto the woman trying to calm himself down. A small spatter of blood transferred from Jaune's shirt to the headmistress' blouse. Jaune couldn't focus on anything besides keeping his lungs filled with air.

A school resource officer came from the far end of the hallway. Goodwitch glanced up at the man as he drew his gun. "In there!" The man nodded and slowly approached the scene of the crime.

The large man pushed the door opened. He aimed the barrel of the handgun into the open space waiting for something to come out. "This is the police! Come out with your hands up!" The response was, first, silence, and then a growl. The officer's hands shook as the growl neared and became more intense!

Cardin burst from within the chamber and latched onto the police officer. He fired a single shot before screaming for his life. The creature tore into the large man as a hungry lion would to a gazel. The officer's flak vest and uniform did nothing to stop Cardin's ravenous onslaught.

Jaune pulled himself from Goodwitch's chest. The older woman stood as they watched the creature tear into their fellow human being. Goodwitch grabbed Jaune's hand and dragged him down the hallway. The clatter of heels and dress shoes were one of the sounds to fill the hall. The other was the sickening grunts of what used to be Cardin Winchester.

...

Jaune locked the door and pushed a sizeable heavy-metal desk up next to it. Goodwitch continued down the hallway making her way to the office. Jaune's heavy breathing shuddered as he scrambled to secure the door. The other students stood, and Dr Oobleck approached Jaune from behind. Each of them had their own concerns and questions as to what happened.

"Oh my god! Jaune! Are you okay?"

"Yo, what's happening out there?"

"We heard a gunshot and somebody scream!"

"Is that... blood?"

"Stop," Oobleck ordered, sounding as if he were a drill sergeant. "Mr Arc, did you find Mr Winchester?" Jaune nodded. "Is he the cause of the panic?" Jaune nodded again.

A screech came over the loudspeaker. " _Attention! This is not a drill! There is an intruder in the building! Please stay in your classrooms or another secure area until the police come for you!_ " It was Ms Goodwitch's voice. She sounded as if she were in a panic among the confusion that was going on as well.

"WILL EVERYBODY JUST STOP BEFORE SOMETHING CRAZY HAPPENS AGAIN," Yang shouted as the announcement came to an end. Nobody dared to move as she cooled down.

"Ok, Jaune," she sternly began, approaching him. "What happened!" Jaune was searching for a way to explain what he had seen. Everything was happening so fast, and Jaune hadn't even been given a moment for his own brain to catch up. He had been acting on instinct for the last few minutes.

A howl came from where Cardin was last seen. "What was-" Jaune cupped his hand over Yang's mouth and pushed her against a wall. The dark wood was flush against Yang's back while Jaune held her there. She tried to move, but Jaune only tightened his grip. The door was next to them, and Jaune could barely get a glimpse out of the small window offering a view to the outside.

Cardin found the door everyone was hiding behind. There were several guttural moans or growls from him. The creature tried the door handle numerous times. *Click*Click*Click* The latch would not respond to its wish. It screeched again before stepping away from the classroom. More clicks came not from the door but from Cardin's tongue as it found another stimulus down the hallway.

Jaune looked into Yang's eyes. Both were watering, and she was nearly on the verge of crying as Jaune had been. Jaune loosened grip enough that it wasn't going to hurt her. He held a finger up to his mouth telling her to keep quiet. "That was Cardin," Jaune calmly stated breathing heavily. Dried tears clung to his cheeks, and more were beginning to pool within his eyes. "I don't know what happened to him, but he attacked me. There is something seriously wrong with him!"

"He attacked you with no provocation," Dr Oobleck asked as he fished something out of his desk. Jaune nodded and Oobleck when back to fishing. "Several psychedelic drugs can cause uncontrolled aggression in certain individuals." Jaune was expecting an entire lecture to come out of his mouth. However, Cardin was a drug user so that may have been a likely cause of his aggression.

"Ok, Dr Oobleck," Dante interrupted before this could go any farther. "I would love this lecture at any other time, but we need to focus." He was trying to bring some sanity back to this conversation. Dante stamped up to the front of the room and leaned against the desk barring the door. He tucked an aluminium baseball bat under his arm. "What we need to do, is just stay in here and let the police handle this."

Jaune pulled off of Yang giving her freedom back. "I-I agree. There is no point in trying to run." Several of the other students nodded to each other and sat back down. Dante flicked the light switch off leaving the ghost lights on.

Jaune let go of Yang so she could sit down and take a second to breathe. "Holy, shit, Jaune," Yang cursed as she held her jaw. "You're pretty strong. I always thought you were a string bean." Adrenaline will do that for you. Jaune could have fended off Cardin with his normal strength, but everything was cranked to the max as Jaune's heart pounded in his chest.

Dante fished a hoodie out of his duffle bag. "Here, you might want to get out of those bloody clothes." Jaune caught the hoodie in his right hand. It was the baseball team's branded hoodie. Black and grey cloth with the symbol of Beacon Academy on the back. Just above the right breast a team number and name was printed on the hoodie.

Jaune stripped out of the uniform making sure to wash the blood off his chest before putting the hoodie on. Nobody bothered to look. They were all focused on the door or each other. One of the girls was crying, and the others were trying to calm her down.

"Jaune, you alright," Dante asked. There was definite concern hidden in his usual bravado. Physically Jaune was ok. He was just scared shitless. Jaune almost shit a brick when Cardin came out of that stall. And he had yet to get a chance to cool down.

"Yeah, my heart is pounding right now." Jaune leaned back against a wall. He wanted to laugh because of how close he came to being someone's lunch today. There was no way Jaune could prove Cardin was going to try eating him. However, the biting and nearly being torn apart by Cardin's fingers was very unsettling!

Marron sat next to Jaune and handed him a bottle of water. He grasped at the pink and blue container. Jaune's hands shook as he lifted the bottle to meet his mouth. Jaune's throat had become parched, and the water was an effective rejuvenator.

Dr Oobleck found what he was looking for. A black metal box with a small lock on the front latch was set on the desk. Oobleck unlocked the container and inspected the contents. He withdrew a handgun from within the case and loaded a magazine and round into the firearm.

"Whoah," one of the students gasped. "Dr Oobleck keeps a piece in the classroom?" Jaune eyeballed the handgun. It was a simple nine millimetre that could be purchased at any pawn shop or gun store.

"Yes, Mr Blackwell," Oobleck replied to the young man. "While having firearms accessible to the faculty was one of the many policies I disagreed with. This may be of some use to us if we need to leave the building." Oobleck fumbled the plain steel handgun. His hands shook as he gripped the handle and pulled the slide back. He seemed uncomfortable when it came to handling guns.

"Are you alright Dr Oobleck," Dante asked. "Your hands are shaking almost as bad as Jaune's!"

"Yes, I am fine. I haven't regularly used firearms since I left the army. I need a moment to get used to it." It's better than nothing. Jaune wasn't all that experienced with guns. That was his father's hobby Jaune was forced to partake in for the sake of home defence.

Jaune looked over at Yang. She was sitting a few feet away from him with her knees pulled up to her chest. The usually confident cheerleader was genuinely scared-worried-terrified even. Marron wasn't focused on her friend as much as she was with Jaune leaving Yang to deal with everything by herself.

"Hey, Yang," Jaune tried, hoping to grab her attention. She looked over with puffy eyes boring holes into Jaune's skull. "Have you texted your sister yet?" Marron had already contacted their mother to let her know what was going on. The school was effectively in lockdown, and the only way to communicate was through texts or calls. It wouldn't have surprised Jaune if Yang forgot to call her own sister with everything going on.

"Y-Yeah, I talked to her," she softly stammered. "She's alright-a little scared. I guess I am too." Anybody would be if a person on what Jaune assumed were bath-salts or something else was running around the school and attacking people. Jaune hadn't even told anyone about the cop that was torn to pieces by the kid.

"Don't worry my fair maidens," Dante jested as he slid down onto the floor. "Jaune and I shall protect you from any harm." Dante sounded like a stereotypical knight from a movie. His flippant attitude towards this whole thing helped lighten the mood a bit. But the air remained heavy with anticipation.

"I feel great about our chances," Marron sarcastically declared. Jaune felt a little hurt by what his sister said. But, if they kept the door closed. The steel barrier would keep whatever was trying to come in, out.

...

Another hour had passed. Phones were lent to other students so they could contact their families. Other than some minor conversation between the children, everything was in silence. There were no screams or sounds of students in the hallways. It was an excruciating silence.

Jaune sat with his arms resting on his knees. He managed to calm himself down, and the adrenaline was out of his system. It would be hard to sleep for the next few days, but Jaune would come out of this. Nothing video games and some reading wouldn't fix. His mother, however, would obsess over his health and Marron's until school started back up.

A loud crack silenced the students. Jaune thought no-he knew it was another gunshot. The echo filled the halls as another rang out. One of the girls started crying, and Jaune felt he was going to have another panic attack. A group of people were shouting, and a cacophony of footsteps filled the hall.

Three loud knocks erupted from the door. Jaune stood up and looked through the window. Four cops were standing in the hallway with AR style rifles and body armour. Jaune wondered where they had been for the past hour because the school really needed them.

Dante and Marron pulled the desk away and stepped back. Jaune dropped the aluminium baseball bat and kicked it away from the door. The cops rushed through the door knocking Marron over and preceded to clear the room. Any students who were standing were pushed against the white-board. One of the male students cursed at the officers as they manhandled him.

"All of you..." the leader of the SWAT officers began. "Put your hands on top of your head and follow us out of the building! Leave your bags and follow the officers." Jaune was the first to leave and then Yang. Dante was the last of the students to leave.

Looking down the long hall where the bathroom was. Jaune noticed several cops standing around where the school resource officer went down. A tarp was used to shield the students from the view, but it was too late for one of them. As the children were led to the nearest exit, the bloody handprints grew more numerous. Cardin must have stumbled several times as he lumbered after something.

An officer held a side door to the building open. More police were on the outside and sheltered the incoming students. They ran for the other side of the main parking lot where they met more cops and a group of paramedics. Students who were injured rested in the rear of the ambulances and the rest waited behind a line of police cars.

A group of news vans were parked just outside of the police line. Two crews were standing on top of their vehicles with their cameras pointed at the students. A news helicopter circled the area creating a disturbing howl with each pass. It reminded Jaune of whenever a mass shooting appeared on the news.

It was deafening and very confusing. Jaune's breathing shuddered again trying to focus on what was in front of him. Some of the children ran into their parent's arms screaming and crying out in fear. Yang wrapped her arms around her younger sister with tears in her eyes. A hand on Jaune's shoulder pulled him away from the group. It was Ms Goodwitch.

She directed him to a group of paramedics who sat him down in the bed of the vehicle. The EMT's began looking Jaune over. They put a blanket over his shoulders to keep him from succumbing to shock even though he wasn't in shock. _I feel like an idiot!_

The EMT's moved to the side after Jaune was given a clean bill of health. Two officers escorted by Goodwitch came over to the boy as he rested in the ambulance. Jaune knew he was in for a barrage of questions. It was to be expected when you were chased by some drug-crazed student.

"Mr Arc," Goodwitch began introducing him to the police officers. "These men would like to ask you some questions if you're feeling up to it." Sure, Jaune was ok. Exhausted from the adrenaline rush and the running. But he could converse with some cops that weren't like the ones who preferred to throw you against a wall.

"Yeah," Jaune softly responded as he sat up straight. "What do you guys want to know?" He could give them a very vivid description if they asked for it. What Jaune saw in there burned into his retinas forever. Hopefully, he could get out of this with only being forced to attend a counselling session once.

...

It felt like another hour passed as the police officers questioned Jaune. He was forced to recount the details of the incident in the bathroom with vivid detail. Jaune was sure he could start writing his own horror novel after the level of intricacy he put into his description. The scene played inside of his head with such clarity that Jaune had trouble with actually getting the words out at points.

"What happened to Cardin," Jaune abruptly asked while pulling the blanket around himself. They had concluded the interview with the police and the two men were just about to leave. Jaune hoped the boy was apprehended and taken to a hospital.

The two officers looked at each other. "Mr Winchester was killed by the SWAT team," the older officer revealed Cardin's fate. Most likely he wasn't supposed to give an answer to Jaune's inquiry. But what happened to Cardin was unfortunate, and the cops most likely deemed it necessary to have him killed. Jaune wasn't going to mourn for him.

The officers finished the last formalities before melding back into the crowd. Ms Goodwitch left Jaune to attend other students after making sure he would be fine on his own. Jaune drank some water as he waited for his mother to get him and Marron.

"Hey," Jaune turned to see Yang standing next to him. Ruby wasn't with her which was surprising since the red-head clung to her older sister like glue.

"Hey, Jaune echoed. "What's up?"

"Marron called your mom and got the all-clear from Ms Goodwitch to leave," Yang explained leaning up against the ambulance. "My dad is here too, so if you want a ride, we're offering."

"Thanks," Jaune uttered as he stood up and got out of the ambulance. Keeping the blanket wrapped around him as he followed Yang to Tai's car. She looked over at him and snorted.

"What?"

"You're seriously going to steal that blanket," Yang smiled as she walked right by his side.

"It's comfortable!"

* * *

 **That's chapter one of The Lengths We Must Go To! Tell me if you liked it! Give me any recommendations for changes or something that I can do better! Thank you for reading!**

 **The next chapter will be out... eventually! When I get everything else updated again!**


	2. Day Three

**Back with another chapter!**

 **The first chapter of this blew up. Literally, this fic has had the fastest growth out of any of my other stories. I'm glad you guys liked it, and I'll try to do my best to make it a good fic.**

 **Now two people did mention how this was like High School of the Dead. While that is an awesome anime, it was not intentional.**

 **Also, I'm going to eventually write a RWBY and Tokyo Ghoul crossover. I've got a really good idea for the story and where I want to take it.**

 **Now, this chapter is going to be a little short, but we're introducing the beginning of the outbreak. I can imagine in a lifelike zombie scenario most of the damage has already been done before broadcasts can really get the news out there. From that point on, the infection will slowly snowball and broadcasts will become more focused on a recent unidentified flu outbreak. Riots will also be reported as taking place at all hours of the day.**

 **We're not quite there yet. We've got some work to do before we start seeing this thing go full scale. Right now we are getting a single story about a new disease.**

* * *

 **If you like this fic please: follow, review, and favourite. Check out my other two fics as well.**

* * *

Jaune _pushed the door to the restroom open. Light-brown assorted tiles lined the floor and the walls. Each piece of ceramic perfectly placed in their own three by three square. Every tile placed in a pattern going from white, milk-chocolate, dark-brown, and finally red-brown._

 _In front of Jaune was the utility closet where the inner workings of the plumbing were stored. The door was lined with the same steel frame painted over with brown walnut paint. It was identical to the door leading into the washroom. The hatch itself was constructed from the same beige oak and had a steel handle with a lock on it._

 _The room smelled faintly of bleach... like it had been cleaned over the weekend. Another smell present but much stronger. Maybe lavender or one of those fruity tropical candles Jaune's mother buys. It wasn't an offending odour, but something soothing and calm._

 _The light hum of the air conditioner added to the tranquillity of the room. It was just loud enough to be considered white noise. Nobody else was in the restroom allowing for Jaune to have total and complete silence as he went about his business._

 _Jaune stepped over to the sink. He pressed twice on the soap dispenser, letting a dollop of white foam cover the palm of his hand. Jaune lathered his hands for almost a minute before he was satisfied with their cleanliness. Once thoroughly lathered with the cheap anti-bacterial soap, Jaune ran his hands under warm water. The warm liquid cascaded down Jaune's fists and ran into the drain._

 _The door leading to the small restroom opened._ Jaune _turned around to see the hatch slowly closing. He didn't hear anybody's footsteps. Somebody must have looked into the restroom then left. Maybe a couple or two kids trying to deal drugs?_

Jaune _looked back down to his hands. His heart almost stopped. Blood poured from the faucet and onto his hands. The warm current flowed with the same viscosity and consistency of water. He quickly shut the fountain off out of sheer terror._

 _Is this some sort of sick joke? Is somebody messing with me? Why was there blood coming out of the faucet? All of these questions ran through Jaune's head. He felt a panic attack about to come on. However, Jaune needed to keep a clear head!_

 _He took a step away from the basin._ Jaune _needed to find a teacher and explain what happened. Blood shouldn't be coming out of a fucking sink!_

Jaune _took another step. He felt something brush against his back during that final step. Like he just took a step backwards and pushed on a wall._

 _A low growl emitted from whatever stood behind Jaune. He slowly turned around to see... Cardin?_

 _Jaune was paralysed by fear. The taller man stood there covered in blood. His face was broken and disfigured with teeth shattered and hanging loosely from his maxillary and his mandible. Cardin's lips curled back snarling at Jaune._

Jaune _pushed the large man back. Hoping to buy himself some time. He ran for the door and pulled it open. Before he could bolt two hands grasped at his shoulders. The pressure from the grip caused Jaune to wail in pain._

 _Cardin dug his fingers into Jaune's trapezoids. The digits dug into Jaune's soft tissue drawing blood. Jaune screamed again to no avail. Cardin tugged Jaune back into the restroom and threw him to the floor._

 _The monster pounced onto Jaune straddling the blonde's waist._ Jaune _pushed back with all of his might but couldn't find the strength to push Cardin off of him. Cardin's snapping maw continued to push towards Jaune's neck, and the smaller man kept fighting._

 _Cardin forced himself even further pushing his mouth centimetres away from Jaune's neck. Jaune screamed for help, but no words would come out. Pure terror coursed through Jaune's veins as he felt the hot breath from Cardin's mouth touch his skin. The man snarled and clicked his tongue as he neared the soft exposed flesh on Jaune's skin._

 _Jaune seized up as pain ripped through his body. Cardin bit down on Jaune's neck severing muscle and veins. His carotid artery and jugular vein were severed at the same time. Jaune's vision blurred and faded as his body's lifeblood poured onto the floor next to him. He kept fighting in the desperate hope he could free himself._

 **Day Three**

Jaune awoke with a gasp. He sat up and looked around the room. Marron was sleeping on the opposite side of the room in her bed. The room was illuminated by faint moonlight pouring in through the blinds. Jaune was in the same place he fell asleep. He was still at his house in his bed.

Jaune's bedroom was a simple set up. Two beds on opposite walls with floor space in between them. A span of dark brown oak made the surface of the floor. There was a shared entertainment centre where the Jaune, Marron, and any of their friends would play video games. Some minor decorations: posters, banners, etc. were on Marron's side of the room. Jaune's side was a bare panel of drywall.

Marron was snoring like a chainsaw. Some crickets were chirping loudly outside. The occasional owl hooted and fluttered off onto another tree branch or house. A farm animal uttered a grunt or a loud snort. Maybe a large gust of wind ripped through the area making all manner of things creak and moan.

 _Guess it was a nightmare._ Jaune placed his right hand on his neck. There was no bite mark, and everything was intact. The pain Jaune felt was so real and what he saw was so vivid. It was like he was back at Beacon. Jaune was glad he didn't wake up screaming. More than glad he didn't wake up with Cardin latched onto his neck.

The night after the attack, Jaune and pretty much everyone else he knew had trouble sleeping. This was the first time he had a nightmare in probably ten or so years. Jaune hoped this would be the last one he had for a while. Bad dreams are common after something like this, right?

Jaune tried to clear his throat. He coughed once, and nothing changed. Jaune coughed again, and, yet, the same result. His throat felt so dry and rough. There was no saliva or mucus in his oesophagus, only bare muscle with no moisture. The same feeling he got after being chased by Cardin.

His left hand felt his sheets. The white and blue linens were soaked through with sweat. Gallons of the excretion formed a puddle in the centre where Jaune's back lay. His body was covered in a thin sheen of perspiration that shone in the dim light. A drop ran down his chest and abs mixing with the rest of it.

Jaune reached over to his nightstand and grabbed his scroll. Four in the morning. There were various notifications below the clock: news, activists, texts, follows on his social media and fanfiction accounts. Jaune would look through those later when he had the chance, but now he needed a shower.

He grabbed a pair of shorts and a fresh t-shirt. Jaune smelled like he just ran a ten-kilometre race while wearing a trash bag poncho. He felt like it too.

Jaune opened the door to his room enough so the light in the hallway wouldn't wake Marron. Once he was through, Jaune left the door unlatched so he could sneak back in. If Marron woke up this early in the morning, then Jaune was going to catch an earful at breakfast.

Once out of the room Jaune slipped into the open bathroom. It was one of the four washrooms in the Arc household. One of them being his parent's personal restroom, the two upstairs bathrooms, and the other was the public one. Jaune was forced to share the upstairs with seven other people, unfortunately.

Jaune set his scroll on the counter; avoiding the minor amount of makeup and other feminine products stacked on the stone ledge. He hopped into the shower and turned it on letting the cold water run down his body at first. Jaune stretched out his muscles and got whatever aches he could out of his body. The icy water stimulated his nerves and made him feel electrified.

It's been two days since Cardin's attack on Beacon. Most of the school panicked and ran for the first exit they could see. Everyone on Jaune's side of the school, the math hallway, stayed locked in their rooms. Some of the students in adjacent hallways that ran got caught by Cardin.

Those unfortunate victims were what grabbed Cardin's attention away from Dr Oobleck's room. Five people went down in the matter of an hour because they decided to stick around instead of run like Jaune. Those five were among the seven killed two days ago. Cardin and the cop included.

The news reported the entire fiasco and Jaune expected there to be debates about security in schools, guns, and pretty much everything associated with mass killings at high schools. Apparently what the police hinted as to the cause of Cardin's outburst were drugs. Bath-salts could also be one of the culprits.

Jaune knew about bath-salts and what they did to the human body. Highly aggressive behaviour, psychosis, and hallucinations were some of the potential side effects of their use. It could be assumed that Cardin was under the effects of the drug and was having an episode. A very fucking terrifying episode, but a bout of psychosis.

Cardin used several types of drugs. Weed, cocaine, and some other illicit narcotics. No one wanted to admit it to the public, and some of the baseball players assumed the school was being paid to keep it quiet. The man came from money, and there was enough to pay the school for a new high school program if they did not speak about what bullshit Cardin was up to. Bath-salts might have been on the menu for Cardin if his drug use was spiralling out of control.

Cardin's name was also kept out of the news. He was labelled as, "The Suspect," instead of using his actual name. The Winchester Family probably didn't want the dishonour to shame their house. However, it would be leaked to the public eventually, and they were only buying time to cover up any evidence of their son's debaucherous lifestyle.

Jaune stepped out of the shower. The air coming from one of the vents chilled his body. Goosebumps appeared all over his legs and lower abdomen. The air was moist and perfectly warm. It felt so good after being covered in sweat for a half-hour.

He picked up his scroll and looked over the messages he got today. Twenty people followed one of his stories. His favourite author was coming out with another book. A farming game was grieving Jaune about how he wasn't taking care of his animals. Moreover, there were also six dozen personal messages from the other students at Beacon.

Yang gave him her number in case he wanted to talk about stuff. Jaune accepted the offer regardless of his infatuation with the blonde. It was a bit of rush actually getting his crush's number without doing anything significant. The only thing Jaune had to do was nearly get eaten by some coked-up football player. Nothing too major, right?

The same night he and Yang did talk, about small things at first and she eventually managed to goad Jaune into telling her what happened in the bathroom. He had gotten it mostly out of his system by that point and was able to describe what transpired. Jaune could tell she was taken back by the way she sounded during their call. She had a hard time believing what Jaune saw was real.

Before their conversation had ended, Jaune started getting personal messages on various social media sites. Most were just asking him if he was okay and saying the person would be with him. A few were slightly negative, blaming Jaune for Cardin's death. Almost all of the messages lacked any sort of sincerity in them.

Jaune didn't even know half of the people who were sending him these messages. It was like whenever a student commits suicide and practically everyone bands together to show their support. Even though half the people are just there to make themselves look like a half-decent person, and they didn't even know the kid in the first place. So, Jaune just ignored all of the messages and any new ones he would be getting.

[A few hours later]

Jaune came downstairs to get breakfast. It was around seven in the morning, and the Arc Family's ritual of having a massive breakfast was underway. Everyone, but Jaune was scrambling around in the kitchen hoping to prepare their allocated dishes for the meal.

Jaune did not choose to go back to sleep; instead, he was on his computer for those three hours. He got some homework done that was totally not being procrastinated.

He came down the final flight of stairs and stood in the foyer/living room area. Jaune could hear the clattering of pans and sizzling of oil in the adjacent kitchen. His mother and four of his sisters were in the kitchen at the moment. Jaune's father had most likely left to go do whatever the army wanted him to.

Jaune took in the familiar sight of his home. It was an enormous house, as it would need to be with so many children in the household. Every wall in the home loaded with photos of children or memorabilia from one of the family members. The oak floors were scuffed in most places as a testament to the age and abuse a home could take with so many small children.

The Arc Family home sat on a large farm. Initially purchased by Jaune's great-grandfather and served the Arcs for many years. They only grew a few things on the farm now since the Arcs were no longer subsistence farmers. Jaune's mother and father maintained a large vegetable garden and a chicken coop for fresh eggs. The rest of the food came from in town.

Jaune sat down at the table waiting for whatever food would be brought out. Usually, he and Marron would be given a majority of the work, but since Jaune was nearly killed earlier this week. Claire had barred Jaune from doing anything other than lounging around the house for now. So he ended up being stuck waiting for breakfast to be prepared.

Jaune's mother, Dr Claire Arc, was the family matriarch of the Arcs. She worked as a paediatrician in the city at Vale's central hospital. While she was on leave from the medical centre, she would assist other doctors with writing textbooks as a side job. Due to her profitable line of work, the Arc family had no trouble when it came to money.

His mother hadn't gone overboard and immediately assumed Jaune would be having PTSD or anything like that. Jaune may have an anxiety disorder coming out of this considering his nightmares. However, that could be treated over time with therapy. Hopefully not getting plugged full of meds because his mother overreacted, which Claire did not.

Jaune's father took it well, but he was clearly concerned with the welfare of his children. Marron hugged their father as soon as they both got home. Jaune being a man refused to have that sort of close contact with his father. However, Nicholas didn't hound him over it and just left him alone.

While he was waiting for breakfast to be prepared, Jaune noticed something peculiar going on in the living room. The tv was tuned into the Vale News Network channel, and a discussion panel was being broadcast. Jaune decided to abandon the wait for breakfast in favour of what they were talking about.

He sat down in front of the large plasma tv and turned the volume up. Lisa Lavender was interviewing a man who seemed to be a doctor. The man was being interviewed via a video chat with Lisa reporting from the inside of the VNN's main headquarters.

Blake was the one who got Jaune into watching the news, and politics in general. She was always up to date on recent events and Faunus Rights activist proposals. During every debate in middle and high school, Blake would rend asunder arguments that were against Faunus Rights. Being informed didn't earn her any favour with the racists, such as the late Cardin Winchester.

Moreover, with Jaune being friends with two faunus in high school and being an avid defender of faunus rights like Blake. He was the prime target for Cardin and his friends. It ended only after Blake left and Dante became violent with them. Dante only fought because Cardin's gang was jumping Jaune outside of school. He fought all of them off, and that's what cemented their friendship. Blake shortly left after that incident.

Now that she left, Jaune was on his own with having to keep himself informed about current events. He enjoyed politics as well, so that helped. Blake was also very insistent on the fact that being informed would save your life.

"Now for our newest story," Lisa began, looking directly at the camera. "A flu outbreak has recently taken hold in most of the country. Today we have Dr Arthur Watts, an epidemiologist from the Republic of Vale Centre for Disease Control to give us some details on the outbreak."

Huh, a flu outbreak. In Vale, they happened regularly during the spring and winter. Most times they weren't that bad unless it was something such as avian flu. Practically half of Jaune's family came down with it, and two of his younger sisters were throwing up, coughing, and generally being close to death. Jaune was lucky he stayed over at Dante's house until it was over.

Dr Arthur Watts was an older man, maybe in his mid-forties. His skin tone was white with a visible tan, and he had green eyes. His moustache and hair were the same black colour with some white mixed in due to his age. Jaune would have thought he was some businessperson given the large moustache.

"Thank you, Ms Lavender," Watts courteously said. "From what the RVCDC now knows, is this outbreak is mostly centred around the capital, in Vale. We currently believe it to be a flu strain that has come from an animal, like the H1N1 influenza strain that became widely spread a few years ago."

"Dr Watts, what groups are the most at risk for catching this flu," Lisa asked.

"The current groups that are the most widely affected are school-age children, infants, and the elderly at the moment," Watts professionally answered.

That was Jaune and most of his family. Many kids were excused from school recently so this flu outbreak might have been the cause of that. So long as Jaune was able to avoid contracting whatever this was. He would be perfectly fine.

"Could you tell us how many cases of the disease have been reported," Lisa asked another question.

"There have been over four thousand reported cases of this strain so far, and almost every single one of them were from the demographic I stated earlier," Watts answered again.

"And could you give a list of the symptoms," she asked.

"This flu seems to be much more virulent than previous flu strains we've encountered," Watts explained. "The known symptoms of this influenza strain are, coughing, vomiting, high fever over forty degrees Celsius, and dehydration. We are concerned with these symptoms due to high fever. Several children have already died despite our best efforts to save their lives."

Children dying due to the flu is not something new. With any flu young children are always the most at risk. Their bodies are not capable of handling the high fever, and they can quickly burn out if it goes over forty degrees Celsius. This phenomenon is due to the denaturing of proteins (the protein unfolds and becomes a string) much like how eggs are cooked.

"You said several children have died," Lisa clarified Watts' earlier statement.

"Yes, it was due to organ failure from a very high fever," Watts explained firmly. "The children were both elementary school-aged with a previous history of influenza."

"Is there a vaccine prepared for this specific flu," Lisa asked.

"Currently there is not," Watts answered. "We have yet to isolate the strain in a lab setting. Then there is the process where we must incubate it. Finally, we would have to manufacture the vaccine itself."

"What would you recommend the citizens of Vale do to keep themselves healthy," Lisa asked. "With a vaccine not on the horizon currently, are there steps we can take to prevent catching this flu?"

"Yes-" The tv shut off before Watts could finish his statement. Jaune looked around to see his mother holding the tv remote. He was about to say something before Claire cut him off.

"Breakfast is ready, Jaune," Claire announced as she set the remote down.

Jaune followed her to the dining room. The smell of grease and perfectly cooked bacon wafted up into Jaune's nostrils. His mouth salivated at the mere scent of the meat. Once he saw the piles of eggs, freshly made toast, and the pancakes Jaune began drooling.

The table was packed with all manner of breakfast foods. Eggs cooked in various ways; scrambled, sunny side up, you name it — a pile of the juiciest bacon that was masterfully cooked by the Arc matriarch. Three separate plates filled with pancakes. All prepared for this morning.

...

"All right everybody," Claire began. "Let's dig in."

Hands and utensils came across the table to snatch up anything they could. Jaune secured a short stack for himself along with four pieces of bacon and some eggs. Marron grabbed a bowl of fruit, some eggs, and two pieces of bacon. Once the chaos of plating subsided, one of the Arcs initiated a conversation.

"Jaune who were you talking to on the phone yesterday," Rouge, his second youngest sister age 10, curiously asked.

 _God dammit! I knew I should have taken that call outside. Never going back to the balcony again!_

The whole family looked at Jaune. He was feeling nervous because he was talking to Yang. Moreover, Jaune's sisters were not very forgiving when it came to teasing, especially when it came to girls courting their brother. They wanted to protect their brother from being stolen from them by a random girl.

"Yeah, Jaune," Vi, Jaune's fourth old oldest sister age 18, urged as she batted away one of her violet dyed locks. "Oooo, it might be a girl!" Some of the Arc women looked to Jaune with grins on their faces. Marron was clearly uncomfortable with the whole situation. The two youngest Arcs were clueless as to what was going on.

Jaune's face turned blood red. This is not what he wanted to happen. Jaune's sisters had him in their trap. So he could do nothing about it. Might just be easier to give up the truth now so he could be teased for it while Yang wasn't here.

"She's a friend," Jaune cautiously began. Hopefully, he could disperse whatever fallout there was. "Yang and I were talking about stuff." Not being specific always helps. Unless they ask about the specifics. Then you're fucked.

"And who is this, Yang," Claire asked intertwining her fingers and giving Jaune a death stare. _Mom! You already know who Yang is! Don't do this to me!_

"Blonde, hot, cheerleader, ten out of ten, and one of the most popular girls in the school," Vi cut in before Jaune could do anything. She wasn't helping Jaune's situation, and he couldn't do anything to stop it from getting worse.

"Yeah," Jaune nervously chuckled. "That about sums it up."

"They were talking about what happened at Beacon," Marron plainly told Claire and Vi. The two Arcs immediately clammed up, and Vi ceased her assault on Jaune. The two youngest Arcs were too immature to understand what was going on.

Jaune mouthed, "Thank you," from across the table. Marron potentially saved his life and his dignity from any further damage. Jaune's mother already knew who Yang was because Marron brought her over, but Jaune assumed she wanted to torture her son.

"Well do you want to tell them, mom," Vi asked Claire. Jaune was curious as to what was going on. "We're talking about Beacon anyways since Marron brought it up."

Claire nodded to her daughter. "Jaune - Marron," The Arc Matriarch began in her stern yet loving tone. "Classes have been cancelled for the foreseeable future at Beacon Academy."

"Wait, really," Jaune asked with concern in his voice. "I thought they would be closed for a week or two." Sure Jaune was totally down for not having to go to school for a while. It could give him some more time to catch up on his video gaming or working out some more.

"They were not very specific in the message," Claire explained. "They only explained that it was due to the attack on the academy is why they've cancelled classes for the time being."

 _Ok, that's weird._

"But enough about that," Claire dismissed the conversation. "Since you three have a break from school. There is some work you have to do around the house."

Claire pulled out a piece of notebook paper. Jaune couldn't make out what exactly was on the sheet, but there was a lot! Enough to potentially keep the three teenagers busy for the next few weeks. Oh, how Jaune loathed farmwork!

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 **Somebody did mention how the cut off was rather abrupt in the reviews. That's because it was and I forgot to copy and paste those last few lines in because I was pulling an all-nighter and my brain wasn't working.**


	3. Day Five

**This chapter took longer than I wanted it to! Mainly because I got distracted again.**

 **Recently I started watching, Your Lie in April, for the first time. Just found it on Netflix after not knowing it was there for like four years. And I love it so far! I'm on episode twelve, I think. It's given me some pretty good ideas for where I want to take Beacon's Number One.**

 **Speaking of that fic, I have a definite path I want to take it in. And I feel like being an asshole. I want to make some people cry, and I will do it. I'm not giving any spoilers away yet!**

 **Another note, To Those Who Survived The Fall. I am changing up the entire thing and where I want to go with it. Originally I wanted to make it an OC-centric fic, but now I want to make it a Jaune-centric fic. Not giving any spoilers away just yet, but I will be putting a poll up when I get the first chapter out for the rewritten version.**

 **For this chapter, it is some more slice of life stuff as we further edge into the plot.**

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A cold-brisk rush of air hit Jaune's face. He stepped out onto the small balcony jutting from the second floor of his house. Jaune lifted himself onto the railing and sat against the wall. He hung his right leg over the ledge and pulled his left up to his chest.

Jaune slowly scrolled through his contacts until he settled on the one he desired. The small bar was labelled, 'Yang.' His thumb tapped on the contact and the call screen popped up. Jaune pressed his scroll up against his ear.

The dial tone played one-twice. Before it could go a third time, someone picked up the scroll. Jaune could hear what sounded like the shuffling of bed sheets. Whoever was on the other end of the call yawned.

"Hey Jaune," Yang tiredly began. She didn't sound as if she had been woken up or was exhausted like Jaune was. Yang didn't seem to be irritated with Jaune either. Like she was waiting for this call.

"Hey, Yang," he echoed his crush with a little more energy. His heart started racing as this was his first private conversation with her. The only times he got the chance to speak with the blonde were when Marron brought Jaune into the conversation. "Is this a bad time?"

"No-no, I've been up _all_ night," she giggled. "So what brought you to call little old me at two in the morning?" Jaune's cheeks burned a little. He could have called earlier, but he needed to gather up any and all courage to do it. The girl on the other end of the phone was probably enjoying this as much as he was.

"Eh, I don't know," he snorted and leaned his head back. "Maybe I wanted to hear your voice?" Jaune's cheeks burned a little brighter. Yang started giggling a bit louder on the other end of the phone. Small talk was clearly not Jaune's forte. But he was doing his best.

"He can flirt," Yang gasped. "I guess Marron owes me some money!" More shuffling noises came through the speaker. Jaune guessed she sat up on her bed.

"You and Marron bet on me," Jaune asked with a minor hint of indignation in his voice.

"Oh, yeah," Yang confirmed for Jaune with a laugh. "Every time you tried to ask girls out during our freshman and eighth-grade year. We still rooted for you until our sophomore year started." That was embarrassing. Practically the entire school knew about it and the controversy surrounding Jaune's persistent requests for dates. There were some pretty bad rejections in there too. A few that Jaune had to leave the room for.

It got quiet for a few seconds. Nobody said anything, and Jaune sat there wondering if she was still on the other end of the phone. He was about to say something, but Yang cut him off.

"Jaune, how are you doing," Yang asked with a serious tone. It sounded like whenever Vi grilled him after he failed at asking a girl out or generally fucking something up.

"I'm fine Yang," Jaune replied taking on the same serious tone. He didn't want to worry her too much. Or anybody with his condition. So long as everyone else was ok, then it didn't matter for Jaune.

"Don't just say you're fine!" Yang was starting to get angry with Jaune. "I hate when people do that!" One thing Jaune knew about his crush was how passionately concerned she was about other people. It was one of the things that drew him to her.

Jaune sighed, "I-I'm sorry." He was trying to be as sincere as possible about it. "I guess, I'm still pretty anxious. The adrenaline hasn't entirely left my body yet." Hopefully, it was honest enough for her. Jaune really didn't have any fancy words to dress it up any more than he did. How would you describe the time when you were nearly killed by another student?

"That weird pit in your stomach?" Yang must have been feeling the same thing. Kind of like when you ride a rollercoaster or jump off a cliff. That seems like a more appropriate analogy.

"Yeah, I felt that too." Jaune first felt it after he crawled out of the bathroom. Then when Cardin tried to open the door to the classroom. It later became an on and off thing for the rest of the day. Luckily it wasn't happening right now. Jaune just couldn't sleep.

"How are you doing," Jaune asked in response to Yang. It was a tangent to the conversation about himself. For Jaune, it was second nature to be more concerned about others versus himself.

"Can't sleep," she confessed. "I'm still going over the details of what happened in my head. Cardin looked pretty fucked up when he tried to bust into the classroom." There was a minor break in her confidence towards the end. Jaune understood where that came from.

"You should have been there when I found him," Jaune tried to jest. "Straight out of a horror movie!"

"D-Do you want to talk about it," she hesitantly asked. Jaune wasn't too keen about the idea yet. But if Yang was offering, then he might as well discuss it.

Jaune slowly described the incident exactly how it played out. Almost every detail was retold with vivid description. Jaune had already done this once before with the police, so it became a little easier. Yang sat on the other end of the call diligently listening as he recounted the events. Once Jaune finished Yang grew quiet for a moment.

"A-Are you really ok," she stammered upon Jaune finishing his recount of the attack. Yang was really concerned about him now. She was also upset about the entire thing. Every detail must have gotten to her.

"It's going to take some time and my parents obsessing about my health for a while, but I really am ok, Yang," Jaune reassured her. "It's going to take a lot more than that to get me down!"

"Alright," Yang tried to stifle a laugh. "I'll talk to you later then."

Jaune heard a click on the other end of the line. "Yeah, I guess I will."

[Day Five]

Marron tossed the last of the supplies needed for today out of the garage. Post-hole diggers, barbed wire, shovels, pliers, bolt cutters, and a beverage cooler. Standard maintenance tools you would find on any farm. All covered in a layer of dust and mud from previous use over the years.

Jaune and two of his sisters were conscripted for labour today. Rouge and Blanche, the youngest of the Arc household, still had school. So they were exempt from the manual labour and the chores that were long overdue. Jaune actually wished for school to have already started back up so he could go back to baseball practice. It was preferable over doing this shit.

The teen's first chore was to go around the entire property and repair the fenceline. Which required them having to cut the barbed wire from certain areas or removing staples from sections so they could pull out posts. Then any rotten or damaged posts would be replaced with a brand new wooden beam.

Now in Vale, it gets hot... really hot. Which makes any sort of manual labour outdoors a pain in the ass. Vale is also in a temperate climate and gets humid as hell. Currently, it was the beginning of summer. This time of the year Vale experiences the highest temperatures than any other season. Mixed with the humid climate and you've got yourself basically hell on Remnant for any Atlesian in your midst.

Unfortunately, the teens also had to pour concrete for any and all fence posts that needed to be repaired. This fence had not been fixed in nearly fifteen years since Jaune's grandfather had died. After the Old Man's death, the Arc Family kind of let the fence fall into disrepair. They were busy and had no real use for a fence since they were no longer raising cattle.

The Arc property was about five-hundred acres in total. A little more than the size of your average family farm that you would find in Vale. And the fence went around the entire property line. So Jaune had to go through and check each fence post that lined the property and all of the smaller enclosures in the interior of the main border.

"Uhhhh, this is going to suck dick," Vi groaned as she leaned against the hood of the farm truck. Her straw cattleman hat's front visor folded upwards along the surface of the truck. Sweat stains were already appearing on her light blue collared shirt.

"All of that cheerleading didn't help you get used to the heat, huh," Jaune made a snarky comment earning him a slap to the back of the head from Marron. "Oww!"

"Quiet, you," Marron barked at Jaune. "We just need to wait for Dante to get here, and then we can start." She got a little excited when she mentioned Dante. Jaune knew exactly why Marron had invited him today.

"And who is this, Dante," Vi teasingly asked with a menacing grin on her face. "I'm not going to have to step in and be the big sister, am I? Do I have to call Saph, and Rose, too?" Oh, Oum! Jaune couldn't imagine what that would be like for her. Actually, Jaune was kind of afraid of it happening to him too.

"No," she shouted, her face turning blood red. "You are not calling those two!" Jaune was laughing so hard he started crying. Marron looked over at him and fixed Jaune with a glare.

"And, you," Marron growled at Jaune, pointing directly at his face. "Don't make me spill the beans about Yang!" Jaune immediately froze in fear. He did not need for Vi to know about that. Nor did he want his mother to know about it either. And if it got back to Yang, then, Jaune was going to have a lot of explaining to do. Although he was pretty sure that Yang already knew about his crush and chose not to say anything. Actually, that might be the worse now he was thinking about it.

Vi grabbed onto the twins and pulled them in close with a crushing vice grip. "My wittle bwover and sister are in wuv," she impersonated a toddler as she shook the twins back and forth. Jaune was about as red as a tomato. And Marron was not too far off.

Jaune managed to pull himself out of the unnaturally strong blonde. "Ok, I get it!" He dusted himself off and flattened the wrinkles out of his shirt. "Yeah, I like Yang, so what?!" This was probably one of the two times he actually confessed to it. The first time was when Dante figured it out, and now this was the second time.

"Oh trust me, little brother, I am going to do everything I can to embarrass you around her," Vi proudly declared putting her hat back on her head. "I know she is the same with her own little sibling." Jaune felt bad for Ruby. While he didn't talk to her much or ever, she must have been the victim to quite of few jokes in the past.

"So, my baby brother," Vi began an interrogation with a terrifying look on her face. "When are you going to make your move on the captain of the cheer squad?" Jaune's cheeks felt like molten iron had been poured onto them. _WHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYY!_

"Uhhh..." Jaune couldn't find the words. This was so embarrassing. Now would be a good time to say, "Cat got your tongue."

He was about to answer when a jeep sped down the gravel road leading up to their house. The attention of his older sister shifted to the driver of the vehicle. Jaune was kind of glad Dante showed up now before he actually had exposed anything embarrassing again.

Once Dante had parked, he jumped out of the open-top cab. The faunus threw a two-fingered salute to Jaune and smiled when he saw Marron. Jaune's sister tried to look away before she blushed too hard. Most of his white hair was tucked beneath a blue baseball cap. "Sup' guys!"

"Hey, Dante," Jaune greeted his friend. He was grateful for somebody saving him once again. People were really pushing him to actually go after Yang.

"So, how did my little sister con you into coming to help us," Vi sceptically asked putting on her big sister face. "Fixing a fence isn't exactly the most exciting activity I can think of." It really wasn't. But Dante was willing to go the distance if he wanted to start dating Marron.

"Umm," Dante nervously began. "The gym is closed, and I need to get a workout in." Jaune facepalmed at just how sad that excuse was. If he wanted to hang out with Marron all day, then he should have been upfront about it.

Jaune should really listen to his own advice. It might prolong his lifespan in this household. Just needed to find a good way to escape his sisters when they started teasing him and everything would be set. Or a way to finally get the courage to confess to Yang.

"Really," Vi drawled crossing her arms and glaring at the boy. Jaune was afraid she might kill him. And she could probably get away with it too. They did have shovels and were on the outskirts of the city,

"What," he responded with an indignant tone. "That's the best excuse I can come up with! I'm bored and have nothing else to do today!" Dante was flustered, and his already pale complexion made it worse.

"Don't worry Vi," Jaune exclaimed. "Dante's weird like that." The faunus gave him a dull look and Jaune responded with a grin.

"Alright then," Vi sighed and put her hat back on. "Let's get to work."

...

Jaune and Dante heaved a fence post out of a hole. It didn't budge so they pulled again. This time it popped out causing Jaune and Dante to fall into the dirt. A nice cloud of soil filled the air as they made contact with the floor.

"Owwwww," Dante groaned as he pushed the fence post off of him.

"Not used to working on a farm," Vi quipped from off to the side. She was sitting under an umbrella they stole from the back patio. Marron sat right next to her drinking water.

"Not used to doing all the work," Dante retorted under his breath. Jaune heard him and started laughing. He felt the same way because of his sisters making them do all the heavy lifting.

"What did you say!" Vi stood up and trudged over to him. She might actually kill Dante now. Jaune didn't want that because he needed him to stay alive until after their senior year. It would be very dull if Dante were murdered.

"Don't kill him, Vi," Marron insisted as she pushed her sister back into the shade. "We need him for the free labour!" Dante put on a hurt look as he watched the two go at it. Jaune sat by and watched the entertainment alongside his friend.

"This is how they always are," Jaune whispered to Dante. Sibling rivalries and fighting were two of the many things going on in the Arc household. Jaune couldn't imagine it any other way. It was orderly chaos all composed by their mother.

"I'm kind of sad that I'm an only child now," Dante said with a laugh.

"Don't be," Jaune contradicted his friend. "When you're on your own. You get plenty of peace and quiet!" Jaune raised his voice at end silencing the bickering siblings.

"Are you saying we're loud, Jaune," Vi said with an innocent look. She was doing the damn puppy dog eyes. Between all of his sisters, they mastered the art of doing it, and Jaune could barely resist denying them. Yang did the same thing when she wanted to copy his homework or steal his notes. It must have been something about being a blonde woman or being related to a blonde that you were able to just look at someone and get whatever you wanted.

"Yes, you are very loud," Jaune told the truth, managing to resist the devastating glare. Marron threw a piece of dirt at him. Jaune stepped to the side dodging it completely. "And now it's your turn to start working."

...

Jaune and Dante were now sitting under the shade as the two sisters began working. They were making good time today. In almost six hours they managed to clear a quarter of the total fenceline. Taking three-hour shifts between the pairs so nobody died from heat stroke.

Jaune was looking through his scroll. A few social media posts from his friends who were enjoying their summer vacation. A girl he barely knew took a picture of herself on the beach with a surfboard. Some other guy was skateboarding with his friends. More notifications from the VNN about recent stories. A current proposal from the Leftist Party. Relations between the Republic of Vale and the Kingdom of Mistral were still a mess.

Mistral always had issues with the other kingdoms ever since the Great War ended some years ago. The regime governing Atlas and the Valeans were now on the same side since the war ended. Vacuo was never in the condition to be a player in international politics. It was still Mistral that was starting fights or causing issues on the global scale.

Blake always kept track of any news relating to Mistral. They were still discriminating against faunus over there and even in Vale people were targeting the faunus still. Jaune remembered every single hour he and Blake poured over the evidence from a civil rights lawsuit or a recent protest from the White Fang when they were younger.

"Yo, Jaune, you still with us," Dante spoke up and snapped him back to reality. Jaune looked over to see him glancing over his shoulder. He had a fantastic view of his scroll and probably saw everything Jaune was looking at.

"Yeah," Jaune muttered as he opened another article. The RVCDC put out a report on the recent flu outbreak. Nothing they hadn't already broadcasted on the news.

"Jeez, you're always on that scroll," Dante said sounding like his mother. "No wonder you don't have a girlfriend. You can't seem to see what is right in front of you because you don't ever look up." When did Dante start becoming a philosopher? The man was spouting wisdom, and Jaune didn't even know it.

"Yeah but the news is interesting, so that's what I do!" That and writing stories when he has free time. Jaune was always the business over pleasure type person. Except business and pleasure were mixed in here because doing research was fun for him. That and baseball.

"I'm still telling you that you need to make your move on Yang," Dante insisted. "Just cut the crap and go talk to her when school starts back up!" Like it's that easy! Jaune would have done that a year ago if he were able to. He didn't have that magic touch of confidence like Dante did. Or any of his sisters for that matter.

"Maybe if Jaune saw a selfie of Yang in a bikini he might do something about it," Marron called out from the post hole they just dug. Jaune tried to hide his face from the other teens as they started laughing. He could picture the moment it would happen. Marron would tackle him and force him to look at the picture just so she could embarrass him.

"Nah, Jaune's like a lost puppy," Vi pointed out, much to Jaune's chagrin. "He runs from one girl to another hoping to find himself some _love_ , but can't seal the deal when he finds the one. Even if she sent him a selfie with her in a skimpy bathing suit." Now it was crush Jaune's ego time! Oh, how many times this happened! It was a mystery to Jaune how many times they beat his ego into the ground after he did something stupid.

"Why can't I just do this at my own pace," Jaune asked with a confrontational attitude. "Sure I screwed up with all of the other girls! So what if I chose a different way with this one!" He failed at girls for the first part of high school because how he asked them out. He was overly persistent about it and failed every single time. Jaune couldn't learn from those losses at first, but now he was choosing a different way.

"You screwed up because you weren't treating any of those girls like people," Dante clearly explained, leaning back against the farm truck. "They were not girls to you. They were a potential girlfriend - an item!" Jaune figured out that much from how they reacted. He was always sure confidence was key. Apparently, that was not the case in the real world.

"Yeah, Jaune," Vi started on him. "That womanising character you somehow contrived during your freshmen year was a total turn off. Women never like that, and when anybody falls for that, it's because they don't have the emotional maturity to think otherwise. Someone like Yang, for example, is extremely mature for her age and knows what she wants." Vi got up close to Jaune. She was an imposing person at six feet and five inches tall. The same height as Ms Goodwitch in heels.

Vi bonked him on top of the head. "And when you talk to her! She is Yang Xiao Long! Not your crush!" And now the angry version of Vi is back.

Jaune held the top of his head trying to stifle the pain. "Ok-ok, I'll talk to her! Just give me time to do it on my own!" It felt good to finally agree to it. Jaune always told himself he would do it eventually. But that still kept getting pushed off because of a lack of confidence. Now he was being urged to do it, or he might be dragged into talking to Yang finally kicking and screaming.

"And why are you guys all teaming up on me," Jaune asked with a bit of fear in his voice. Usually, they worked together to embarrass him. Not to help him with his girl troubles.

"Some of us are tired of watching you stare at Yang all day long," Marron cheerfully answered. "And you two would make a cute couple anyway!" Jaune blushed again - for like the eighth time today.

"Yeah," Vi agreed. "Hopelessly shy and self-conscious mixed with extroverted and uber-confident!" Now they were back to tearing down his ego. Great!

"Thanks, guys..."

...

Jaune fell back onto the couch. A whole day of exhausting labour later, and Jaune was going back to his routine. Watching the news, and going to play video games after he got bored. Maybe a bit of writing mixed in there as well. Jaune needed to get another chapter out before his followers tore him to pieces.

He looked over at his scroll sitting next to him. The currently lifeless device was just sitting there. No notifications to distract him or calls from somebody else. Jaune wanted to reach for the scroll and just call _her_. His hand made a move, but it pulled back. _Not confident enough I guess._

Jaune grabbed the remote instead and turned on the television. The screen was static for a second before it warmed up. Jaune flipped through the channels debating whether or not he wanted to stream a movie or anime over looking at the news. He eventually settled on the news again after not finding anything he wanted to watch.

The VNN came back on again with Lisa Lavender. Jaune wondered what was going on with the flu outbreak. Maybe they would be doing another story over it and had some more information? They were pretty quiet about the whole thing.

It didn't affect Jaune too much since his family lived out in the country. His father worked at a military base outside of Vale also. But, his mother worked at a hospital, a prime location for anybody that could catch the flu. Hopefully, they already had precautions in place for that. Jaune didn't want to catch anything his mother brought home from work.

 _Hopefully, this is good..._

"Hello, I'm Lisa Lavender with the VNN," Lisa confidently and clearly began. "Tonight... a batch of imported grains from Mistral has caused over a dozen hospitalisations."

Huh, that's what happens when you don't take the time to inspect your food. Mistral was known for having extremely lax standards when it came to food inspections. The Conservative Party governing the state didn't care to fund government programs needed to ensure the safety of consumers.

"Recently, the FDA classified a batch of grains imported from southern Anima as unsafe for consu-" Jaune shut the TV off before it could go any further. He didn't want to listen to the anchor drone on for the next half hour about cereal. He could always check back tomorrow when they came up with a new story.

 _Nothing is on today._ Jaune stood up and started walking out of the living room. He was tired and wanted to go to sleep. It was still pretty early. The sun hadn't even set yet, but all of the work he put in today exhausted him. And since there was nothing too spicy going on with the world today it was just best to fall asleep and pass the time.

Jaune closed the door to his room behind him. Marron had wandered off somewhere, probably with Dante. Jaune was still unsure of whether or not he asked her out yet. It really didn't matter in the end since it was their relationship and not his.

Jaune lept onto his mattress and curled up in the blanket. He sat up and pressed his back against the wall and pulled one of his legs against his chest. His scroll was laying on the sheet in front of him. He stared at the device again.

 _Should I call her?_ He reached for the scroll and took it in his hand. _Come on Jaune! You can do it! She's just another person! Just like talking to Dante!_

He pressed his thumb down on her contact again. The dial tone played once. She picked it up.

* * *

 **Alright, that is the end of this chapter. We'll pick it up next week with a Yang perspective.**


	4. Day Six

**Fourth chapter! Finished this one in two days!**

 **This chapter will be our first perspective dealing with Yang. So, I'm going to flesh out her personality and her family dynamic that's going on. Lot's of introspection, and our second zombie sighting by the main characters.**

 **Also, I have a poll on my profile page. I want to vote for who will be Jaune's partner in, To Those Who Survived The Fall. This determines Jaune's partner for the Beacon Academy teams, not the ship.**

* * *

 **Edit Note: Removed any mention of zombie in previous chapters. This world will be one that does not have the concept.**

* * *

 **Day Six**

Yang's week had been going swimmingly ever since school was called off. But she was soooo bored! Like who would have guessed having all this extra free time on their hands would have been so dull?! There was nothing to do at her house either. Yang's friends were not up to anything, and they were barely texting. Video games were getting old. Yang had even considered reading for once!

But out of all the things that could have happened. The worst part was Yang wishing she could go back to school. Her life as a social animal was suffering. She needed human contact! Or faunus! It didn't really matter to her because she wanted to talk to someone other than Ruby. Yang wanted to go hang out with Marron, but Tai got in the way.

Her dad had even barred Ruby and Yang from leaving the house at all after dark. He didn't want them going out during the day! Who does that?! The worst part about it was Tai didn't bother to give an explanation as to why he did it. Uncle Qrow even sided with him after Yang listed her grievances.

By listing her grievances, Yang called her father and her uncle's decision bullshit. She then preceded to lock herself in her room and only came out after she talked to Jaune later that night. Luckily the next morning and for most of the week, Tai and Qrow had been scarcely present at the house. There was probably some sort of military thing going on. Whatever it was, it got Yang out of being grounded for the next two weeks as per the usual with her argumentative personality.

Yang couldn't even be angry with Tai or Qrow anyway. Most parents would probably feel concerned about their children after people were killed at school. Tai was a helicopter parent at the least after Summer died. This was another instance of Tai doing his best to protect his children. Qrow was simply the, 'Yes Man,' for this particular situation. A role he fit into snuggly for being an alcoholic and lifelong bachelor.

Was it wrong to yell at both her uncle and her father? Probably, more than likely. Still, the prospect of not being allowed to go out at night or the day for that matter was annoying. It bothered Yang to no end. She was a party girl. You can't cage in someone who seeks excitement! Ruby may have also wanted to kill her older sister because of how bored the blonde was. Yang tended to become quite annoying when bored.

Ruby, from what Yang bothered to keep track of. Spent most of her time working on the car Uncle Qrow bought. It was a classic Mustang that was about forty or so years old. Yang had considered joining in to help Ruby but found herself to be less than adept at tools and the like. After Ruby told Yang she didn't need her help with the vehicle, Yang just locked herself back in her room for the time remaining.

Yang sat up on her bed and looked around her room hoping something would happen. Her eyes scanned the white drywall littered with posters and pictures. She looked at her laptop sitting just across from her. The room wasn't small. It could fit four people comfortably with one on the bed. Inviting friends over to stay the night proved that to be true. The bedroom had its own little charm that Yang brought to it. She prefered some decorations, but nothing too... extreme.

She was never the type to plaster 1D posters all over her wall like some other girls she knew. A boyband poster was ok or any band really. Her Achieve Men poster took the spotlight as it was her favourite band. But she didn't want to seem childish but also didn't want to look too mature by leaving her walls blank. Marron was the type to literally create a fresco out of posters and random shit she attached to her wall. Yang had sparse clippings she used to brighten up the room. It was better than Jaune at least.

That boy didn't know interior decorating even if it slapped him in the face. Yang imagined what his house would look like if he were living alone. It would have looked like someone just moved in and hadn't unpacked yet. A plasma TV in the living room with an armchair or possibly a couch if Yang gave him the benefit of the doubt. The rest of the house would have been emptier than the pantry after Ruby raided it for studying supplies. Basic bachelor pad if Yang was using the description correctly.

But that same description would fit with most guys who were living alone. Jaune clearly never took the time to get tutored on the art of decorating from his sisters. Yang's usual remark when she was teasing Jaune about his room was that he needed to get a girlfriend to help decorate. It irritated him whenever his lack of a romantic life was brought up.

Marron attempted to rectify his issues when it came to romance. The cheesy one-liners and over the top schemes he tried to use to get a girl to go out with him failed. So both his sister and their fellow blonde wanted to try steering him in the right direction. But Yang found his attempts to be quite entertaining at times. It reminded her of some of the cheesier puns she came up with. His perseverance was impressive as well.

And of course, Yang knew Jaune was crushing on her. She found that out before his sister even began suggesting it to her in the form of unbridled gossip. Jaune was easy to read and easier to understand after that. It was actually quite hilarious catching Jaune looking at her in class and then watching him turn redder than a tomato. Then flirting with him or making raunchy jokes about him and some of the other girls. It was priceless to see his face!

Was he datable, however? Sure. He wasn't exactly Yang's type, but she was open to the possibility. Yang tended to go for guys with a little more edge to them. A healthy amount of confidence also helped their desirability. At least that's what she told herself. Truth be told, Yang had never had an actual boyfriend before. She had been with one or two guys, but that was impersonal and for needs only. Summer Flings would be the best way to describe them.

Yang wasn't sure if Jaune was a good fit for her. He was shy at best, and pretty much only spoke to the other members of the baseball team at school. He also had no edge! Like the dullest butter knife or a spoon. He didn't scream danger or had the aura of the tough guy who didn't take shit from anybody. As far as she could tell, Jaune was pretty much the epitome of the knight in shining armour archetype. With all the cheesiness that went with it. And couldn't he do something with that hair?! Jaune did have nice abs, though. Farm-Boy had done plenty of manual labour and lots of training to get a body like that. Perfect quads, and dare she may say, he has a really nice ass too. It still didn't fix the rest of his issues, however.

But after Jaune barged into Dr Oobleck's classroom covered in blood. Yang saw Jaune in a different light. Not the, "I suddenly am crushing on you now," type of thing. More like there is a more profound extent to his personality. Something that he doesn't want to show. _Jeez, am I becoming a psychologist or something?_

Yang noticed it when Jaune shoved her up against the wall. He was trying to protect her and the rest of the students from Cardin. Which Yang was grateful for and she needed to find a way to thank him eventually. But Jaune had a look to him and this air of badassery that changed the way she saw him. There was an almost desperate aggressiveness to it. That edge she mentioned, it was there and unveiled for the rest of them to see.

Jaune was actually scary! He's usually docile and wouldn't hurt a fly. When Cardin was bullying him back in there freshman year, Jaune refused to fight back when he was getting his ass kicked. Dante came in and saved the day, but Jaune should have been able to retaliate against Cardin. He must have changed somewhere down the line and became more of a dominant personality. Yang could imagine him walking into the room and having that aura of authority radiate from him again.

 _Ugh... Why am I even thinking about Jaune right now? It's not like I like him or anything._

Yang rolled over and looked at her alarm clock. It read, 'two-twenty am.' Tai and Qrow had yet to come home from the military base they were stationed out of. It wasn't unusual for the two of them to have to stay late and work, but they've been gone since six in the morning. Her dad was coming home later and later over the week, and Ruby didn't seem to be phased by it, but Yang was.

Frankly, it was pissing her off. Yang was stuck having to cook meals again for the household. It reminded her what the house was like after Summer died. Tai wasn't around, and Qrow was the only person with some semblance of a guardian. Even then Qrow was distant at the time, and now he was nowhere to be seen.

Before Yang's mind could continue its tirade about her father. A very loud and very recognisable verse cut her off.

 _Come at me,_

 _And you see_

 _I'm more than meets the eye_

Yang scrambled to find her scroll. Her sheets came off the bed and her pillow, as well as she, searched for the source of the music. Her favourite song and ringtone filled the room. She could hear her scroll buzzing as well. Yang fell off her bed, and the device came with her. It must have been hidden in the sheets.

"Fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck," she cursed several times in a panic. "Don't hang up on me!" She grabbed the device and looked at the caller id. It was Jaune.

She smiled as she hit the call button. Yang subconsciously tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "Sup, Jaune," she began with her usual cheerfulness. Yang laid back on her bed playing with one of her locks. She twirled it around her finger.

For some reason, she was feeling like that stereotypical teenage girl talking to a boy over the phone. You know, the ones from those teenage dramas. Now Yang was actually feeling stupid for watching one of those out of curiosity.

"Hey, Yang," he replied seeming tired on the other side of the call. "So, what have you been up to?" _Ok, Farm-Boy was starting off with a basic ice-breaker. There may be hope for him after all._

"Not much," she confessed. "I finished some of that math homework Dr Oobleck sent us. Can you believe it, they cancelled school, and he's still sending us homework, and lessons!" It was bullshit. Having homework over what amounted to a forced vacation was not ok. This was supposed to be a time where children managed to get over the trauma of an attack at school. Not being loaded down with a stack of math problems.

"I haven't done any of it yet," Jaune replied with a laugh. "My mother has given us an entire sheet of notebook papers worth of chores we have to do around the farm." He sounded totally ecstatic. "So, I've done nothing, but get a tan and fixed a fence all day long." _Abs and a tan, Mama likey._

"Oooo," Yang cooed with some excitement. "I like the sound of that! I need to get a tan anyway. Gonna head to the beach and show off for the boys. I think you'd enjoy the view too." Yang needed some entertainment and Jaune was perfect for it.

Jaune had what sounded analogous to a stroke on the other side of the call. "W-What! No," he quickly denied it. Yang knew he would have liked it. "Besides, I doubt we'll have time when class starts back up." Maybe, but it was still fun to tease Jaune. If she ever did get to drag him to the beach, she would be sure to put on a show for him and see how red his face could get.

"Huh, you're probably right," she agreed, sparing him from anymore teasing. "I actually want school to start up again! I'm so bored, it's starting to kill me! I've even considered reading for once!"

"It's that bad," Jaune chuckled, sounding very entertained with Yang's suffering. "I thought you could find something fun to do everywhere you went. Maybe your so-called party-girl status is beginning to falter. And what's wrong with reading?!" _Ooooo, I'm going to get you for that!_

"Hey," she whined, reeling from the burn. "Even I can run out of stuff to do! My dad put a curfew on us, and he doesn't even want us to go out during the day! So, I can't go out and have fun anyway, if I wanted to!" Yang sat up on her bed, letting her legs dangle off the edge.

"Also, reading is boring," Yang added on. "I don't know how Blake was able to just sit there for hours and just read. It's not my cup of tea, even if I tried to focus on it."

"Well, if you get bored... I guess just bring Ruby over, and we'll play video games all day long," Jaune suggested. Yang liked the idea, but he gave her another opportunity to tease him, and she was going to take advantage of it.

She giggled, "Oh, so inviting two girls over at once, I see. They don't call you Lady-Killer for nothing." Jaune burst out into a laughing fit and Yang emulated him.

"I might make good on my nickname if we play Mario Kart again," Jaune half-threatened. "I still can't figure out how you guys are so good at that game!" The legend that was Mario Kart. Somehow Ruby annihilated everyone who played with her, and it always irritated Yang whenever they played it.

"Maybe it's because you always complain about the items," Yang fired back. "Ooo, I'm Jaune, I suck at Mario Kart and always whine when I get hit with a red shell!" Yang felt she did an impressive impersonation of his voice. It worked because she got Jaune to start laughing again.

"Now-now, Yang," Jaune began. "I have to keep you from breaking controllers whenever you and Marron played Mortal Kombat with me." Yang did have that habit when she raged too hard at a game. Or anything for that matter.

Yang happened to look out her window right after Jaune's playful retort. The street lamps washed away the darkness blanketed over the neighbourhood. In the middle of the street, there was a man. He was stumbling around as if he were intoxicated. Actually, he looked like he was dragging his left leg.

"What the fuck," she muttered under her breath. Yang got up and walked over to the window to get a better look.

The man was making a clicking noise. He wasn't walking more like lurching forward with every step. The man screeched once, and Yang ducked below her window and out of view. She gasped when the man growled again, and she clutched her scroll tightly.

"Yang, are you alright," Jaune asked. His voice was still timid, but there was a mountain of concern behind it. "Are you still there?" Jaune sounded like he was about to move those mountains.

"Yeah, there's a guy outside a guy outside my house," she sharply whispered into her scroll. "He's acting weird. Like he's on drugs or something." Yang peeked out her window once again. The man had moved about four feet down the street.

Could be," Jaune agreed. "Your house isn't far from a bad part of town, right? A drug addict might have wandered out there when he was on something." He had a point. Yang's house was literally a stone's throw from a poorer section of Vale.

"I-It's happened once before," she stammered. "He might wander off by morning."

"Is your house locked up," Jaune asked with the same concern as before. Yang could hear shuffling in the background. It sounded like he was putting on his clothes.

"Ummm, I-I don't know let me check," she replied with a stammer. Yang set her scroll down on top of her bed. She remained low, walking in a hunched over form. Almost crouch walking.

She turned off the lights and shut her bedroom door behind her. Yang turned around in the hallway to see Zwei sitting just outside her room. The corgi looked up at its owner and wagged its tail. He cocked his head to the side and started panting.

Yang snuck over to Ruby's room and opened the door. Ruby was sitting at her desk drawing something. Yang ushered Zwei through the door.

Rubes," Yang silently called out. Her little sister pulled one headphone off. "Lock your room and don't come out until I say so!" Hopefully, she wouldn't question it.

"What's going on," Ruby asked with a quizzical look on her face. God dammit! Of course, she did!

"Just do it!" Yang closed the door behind her. Shortly after, the bolt latched, and several footsteps faded into nothing.

Yang shut off the lights in the hallway, making sure she was as quiet as possible. Her footsteps were only audible because of the floorboards squeaking. She cringed with every creak that broke the silence. _Fuck! Why is it so goddamned loud?!_

She got to the bottom of the stairs. The living room was empty, devoid of any life other than Yang. A single lamp illuminated the otherwise dark room. It was quiet, the only sound was the humming of the air conditioner. A pin could drop, and it would be the louder than a football game.

Yang crept over to her front door. The dark green hatch had several small windows cut into it giving her a good view of the front of her house. She peered out the small lite and into her front yard. Nothing was out there.

The deadbolt slid into place with a click. Somebody left the front door unlocked. Ruby or Yang may have absentmindedly forgotten to secure the door. Luckily nobody came into the house when they weren't looking.

Yang stepped away from the door. The living room, which was located only a few feet away from the front door, had a large window covering most of the wall. She opened the curtain to get a better view of the street. The clear glass gave no obstructions for her observation.

The man had wandered off. There was nobody on the street anymore. It was empty - deserted even. A car passed by and vanished as soon as it came.

...

Yang closed her bedroom door behind her. She picked up her scroll and sat back onto her bed. Her back pressed against the wall.

"Jaune, you still there," she asked. Hopefully, he didn't get bored or decided to drive to the city to check on her. That would be awkward and sounded totally like Jaune.

But that guy out on the street. He sounded like Cardin during the attack. The screeching and the growling, it was unnerving at the least. I should tell dad about it tomorrow morning.

"Yeah-yeah," he frantically replied, scrambling to his feet. "Is everything all right?" He sounded even more concerned now than before. Yang should have brought him with when she checked the house.

"I locked the door, " Yang said. "Somebody forgot to lock it. And the guy wandered off." She felt stupid for forgetting something like that. A burglar could have walked right into their house and made themselves at home.

"That's good, I guess," Jaune concluded. "But do you want Marron and I to hang out with you until your dad gets home?" _Always have to be the gentleman. Or he just wants a chance to make his move on me._

"No, we should be fine, thanks," she replied. "I'm going to try getting some sleep. So we'll talk tomorrow, or I'll come over and hang out with you guys."

"Ok, I guess I'll see you later then," Jaune awkwardly said his goodbyes and hung up.

Zwei hopped up onto Yang's bed. The dog looked at her and cocked his head. The look he gave her made it felt like she was being judged by her dog.

"What," she asked while looking dead into Zwei's eyes. "I can talk to boys! Don't judge me!" The dog grunted and plopped down onto the mattress,

[The same day: Six Hours Later]

Yang made her way downstairs to prepare breakfast. Ruby was still asleep, and Yang decided to get up early and make something. It was the least she could do to begin destressing after last night. Zwei also helped in that regard. He was such a good dog.

Somebody was talking in the kitchen. Yang rounded the corner to see her father standing in the middle of the kitchen with his scroll. He was still in military fatigues looking as though he hadn't had the chance to change since he got home. Tai was sporting an unmilitary-like two-day beard as well. He looked like crap.

Breakfast was already laid out on the table. Pancakes, eggs, bacon, and everything that went perfectly with the first meal of the day. Tai must have prepared the meal before Yang woke up. She was glad none of the work fell on her for once.

"General, my unit is currently on standby and ready for deployment if necessary," Tai spoke into his scroll.

 _He's deploying..._ A wave of emotions crashed through Yang's body at the mention of her father deploying. Her stomach tied itself into knots, and she tried her best to control it. Yang wanted to cry. Summer had died the last time anyone in their family had been shipped out. Yang never wanted that to happen again.

"Sir, it depends on what happens to the Maginot Line," Tai quickly replied to whatever the man on the other side of the call said. "However, we are prepared to conduct all operations as a part of the Winter Contingency." Tai silenced himself again as another response came from this general.

"Yes sir, I understand," Tai finished the call and hung up. He turned around to see Yang standing in the foyer. His look went from a neutral one to one resembling deep regret. "Yang..."

"You're deploying," she calmly asked, still trying to keep her emotions under control. The best way to describe what she was feeling would be angry. Yang needed to go find something to punch after this.

"We're currently on standby," Tai attempted to backpedal. "If I do have to deploy, I've already made arrangements for you and Ruby to stay at Nicholas' home. More than likely, Qrow and I will be able to avoid it if everything goes according to plan."

 _It's not like you promised that you wouldn't deploy, dad._

"Ok," Yang said, totally not buying it. She wasn't going to tell Ruby about this just now. Yang would have to sit her down for a talk in a few days to warn her about what might happen. It was going to have to be sometime after Yang calmed herself down, however. She was too pissed right now to even begin thinking about that.

"How, have you and Ruby been doing over the past week," Tai began, sitting down at the table. He slid over a stack of pancakes to Yang and placed some on a plate for Ruby. "Work has been keeping me busy, so I haven't had the chance to really spend any time with you two."

"Good," she gave a curt answer. "It's been kind of boring." Yang was waiting for a chance to tell him about what happened last night.

"If you want to, take Ruby and go to Nicholas' house and hang out with Jaune and Marron," Tai suggested. Yang was planning on it anyway, so it didn't really matter. "Or we can do something at the house like play video games."

"I already talked to Jaune about that last night," Yang pointed out. "But something also happened..." She took in a breath. "There was a guy out on the street last night. He was growling and acting really weird. Kind of like Cardin when he..."

"I understand," Tai cut her off, he didn't seem to want that tangent to continue any further. "After breakfast is over, head up to Nicholas' house. Take Ruby with, you guys deserve it after we kept you locked up all week long."

Well, that was the plan at least. But Tai agreed to that way to quickly. Yang just wasn't sure what was going on these days anymore. Everything was a mess.

* * *

 **Alright, that's chapter four! I'm going to be keeping the initial chapters short until we get into the meat of the story. I would shoot myself in the foot if I decided to make them longer then five thousand words right now.**

 **Now, if you haven't already figured it out. Tai knows about the zombies. Most likely the government is beginning to try containing the infection. We'll see in the next chapters where it begins to go downhill from here. Then shit will inevitably hit the fan.**


	5. Day Nine

**Read AN for important shit!**

* * *

 **So this chapter should have been done a while ago. I just got caught up in all of the other stuff I have to do.**

 **This chapter is a bit of a time skip from Day Six where we focused on Yang. Now the zombie apocalypse is slowly starting to gain motion. But, nobody in the story other than Tai has any clue as to what is going on. Nobody has put the pieces of the puzzle together yet. It may be obvious to us, but to everyone else. They have no idea of what is happening.**

 **As we go further along. The rate at which we see infected will continue to rise and more incidents involving the zombies will grow. A three day time skip has given the world plenty of time to fall into more chaos.** **However, our heroes are trying to get back to their normal lives. Albeit, they have already been changed.**

 **From here, Yang and Jaune's relationship will advance quickly. By the time we reach maybe chapter thirty, they will have finally gotten together. Blake and Jaune won't develop feelings for each other until we reach the third story arc (Year 3 of the outbreak.) Then, when we reach the fourth arc, the trio will end up together.**

 **Now my rationale for how quickly everything is going to hell is based on Auston from Shoddy Cast now Game Theory. His analysis of the Resident Evil T-Virus and his model have given me a time table to judge how quickly everything will go tits up. These are not your shambling zombies. These sumbitch's run. So we've got maybe two weeks before everything falls apart.**

 **And for my last announcement. For all you precious little cinnamon rolls out there. This story will not be for the faint of heart. There will be sex (within the rating system or otherwise known as tame sex-scenes) and there will be violence. So, before anyone whines about what is going on in this world. Do yourself a favour and fuck off before you start complaining. I'm all for criticism or suggestions, but no complaining or bitching will be allowed.**

 **I'm a man who's all for a darker story, so this will be a very grim reality that Jaune will have to face.**

* * *

 **Additional AN: In the last chapter, I edited out the existence of zombies in this world. That edit still applies.**

 **And I will be using cars and guns that we have in real life for the story. It makes it easier for me to write them in and I won't have to come up with something.**

* * *

 **Day Nine**

So far, the past few days saw a return to normality for everyone. Beacon was still closed, which could be interpreted in both a negative and positive light. But the Arc Family continued going on with business as usual. Either working or playing video games all day long. Ruby and Yang also came over to their farm several times over the weekend. Jaune especially enjoyed the frequent presence of his longtime crush at his home.

Jaune pulled the bathroom door open. A cloud of steam rolled out along with him. The boy viciously dried his hair as he made his way back to his room. Another figure darted into the washroom just behind him. The hatch slamming shut followed by the sound of the lock clicking.

"Took you long enough," Marron shouted from inside the bathroom. Her voice was muffled by the white-wash wooden door. Soon after, more shuffling behind the locked door could be heard, along with the shower faucet.

 _Really Marron, why are you so impatient? What do you have, hot date?_ Jaune paused for a moment. _Actually, she might. I can't even say anything because I'm a gamer with zero game. Ironic, am I right? Not many girls swoon over the guy with a stack of manga hidden under his bed, and an archive of fanfics on his computer._

 _I-I need to get a life..._

Jaune entered his room, shutting the door right behind him. The towel previously adorning his head was flung into a nearby laundry basket. He shook out his blonde hair, not unlike a golden retriever after a bath. _Hair's all clean and perfect as always..._

 _I still don't know why Marron and Yang insist that I cut it short. Maybe because long hair is starting to die out? But mom always said it looked good._

He continued to play with his hair as he made his way over to his laptop. _I haven't checked the news in a while, so let's see what's up._ Cracking the computer open, the whir of the fan grew to a full roar. Jaune's eyes were met with the unpleasant brightness that was equivalent to the sun. He had to squint lest his eyes burned out of his skull.

Jaune quickly bypassed the lock screen, typing his password in a few keystrokes. His previously opened pages were still there. Several windows all dedicated to various subjects revealed themselves one by one as Jaune sorted through them. Five different portals opened with twenty or so tabs per.

Sifting through the controlled chaos, Jaune found what he was looking for. A few developing stories about faunus rights on Mistral. Recent stories from Vale. And a little bit of economics on the side.

 _Here's a new one!_ Jaune opened up a recent story posted on the VNN's website. His eyes were met with a disconcerting headline.

 _ **Dozens Slain Across Vale in Gruesome Killings!**_

 _Oh, boyyy... What's going on now?_ Jaune's excitement soured upon reading the headline.

 _I'm glad I don't live in Vale..._ He continued to read the article, taking careful notes along the way so he could cross-reference compile the details from any other stories. Jaune wanted to make sure he had the full story and not some half-baked rant from a conspiracy theorist's website.

 ** _The details of a recent investigation were made public this morning by the chief of police of Vale's Riverside District._**

 ** _According to the authorities, dozens of human and faunus remains were found scattered all throughout Vale. Nearly all of the remains were located in isolated areas near the river or in the surrounding districts. Some even being found near city hall and the financial district._**

 ** _Many Valish citizens have begun labelling these killings as the, 'Mince Meat Murders,' after the brutality these gruesome acts exhibited. Most of the victims were found with severe blunt force trauma and were partially devoured. (Cannibals?)_**

 ** _Police are unsure if these killings were committed by one perpetrator or several. But initial findings seem to indicate that many subjects were involved with these murders._**

 ** _Captain Derrick Ferran of the Riverside District along with the surrounding precincts are expected to make a full statement at city hall tonight to make the city aware of everything they are trying to do to end these gruesome killings._**

 _What the hell?_ Was the only thing Jaune could really come up with. He was both stunned by the sheer scope of the killings and was slightly afraid, to be honest. Nothing like this had ever happened in the city all at once. Not even after the last White Fang attack.

That last attack only ended with a few people getting hurt. They were planning to do something to a local amusement park, but the cops found out and stopped it before anything could happen. It was a major story with dozens of White Fang members arrested or killed along with a few police officers and counter-terrorism members being shot in the line of duty. No civilians were harmed at least.

And Vale has had several prolific serial killers before as well. So something like this wasn't new. But it was how recent the news of all of the victims surfaced. Jaune would have heard of a serial killer dropping corpses on the street over a matter of weeks, but the document from the police indicated each of the victims were killed over a period of a few days.

If anything, it was a spree killer. Or a group of them. Logically speaking, that was the only way so many bodies could crop up so quickly. Serial killers don't kill that many people in such a short time. What didn't have an explanation, however, was the reason why the bodies were partially eaten.

A chime brought Jaune out of his thoughts. His scroll flashed every time the jingle replayed. The Ocarina of Time, secret found piano notes kept repeating themselves.

He reached over, overextending himself too far and falling out of his chair. "Ow, fuck," he grunted as he crawled/half-stumbled over to his bed. Grabbing the device, the screen showed a text from Yang. _Now I'm curious._

Y: Jaune! I'm bored, let's go do something!

A lump got caught in Jaune's throat. Yang Xiao Long was asking him if they could do something! It was like the heavens opened up and a chorus sung by angels came down. All led by Oum himself! It was like a dream came true!

No girl other than his sisters or Blake has ever asked him to go out before! It being his crush made it even better. Sure, he asked Yang if she wanted to go play video games, but that was with a group of people. Not one on one time with the blonde beauty of Beacon.

And nobody could doubt Yang's spontaneity. She probably came up with this plan on the spot, maybe just before texting him. Jaune wasn't going to be mad about it.

It would help him get his mind off everything too. If he didn't join her for an outing, then she might go alone. And in all honesty, he needed to blow off some steam. The feeling of his bedroom was starting to become claustrophobic.

J: What did you have in mind?

Y: You'll see.

 _Now I'm concerned._ A shiver ran down his spine.

Y: And before you cream your pants, this is not a date. But, if you impress me enough, then we'll make it one!

J: What time?

 _Come on Jaune! Time to bring your A-game! Can't fuck this up!_ His heart was beating out of his chest. His knees were weak. Arms were sweaty.

Y: In an hour I guess. You do have a car right? Last I checked, it's a long walk back to your place from mine.

J: Yeah, I have one.

 _Hopefully, Vi's car is still here, or I am fucked!_

Y: Good! Then pick me up at around 3! See you there! ;)

Jaune tossed his scroll onto his bed and began rummaging through his clothes. He needed to find something that looked good. Meaning he needed to look presentable and not like he just crawled out of his room after three days. So, his Pumpkin Petes hoodie was off the menu.

S _horts? Nah, too casual. Hoodie? Too hot._ Jaune pulled out a white and black, Beacon Academy baseball t-shirt that hugged his chest and arms. Soon after he found a pair of khaki coloured joggers and some black and white high-top sneakers.

 _This should work..._

Jaune had never been on a 'date/not-date' before, so he was kind of winging it today. Maybe this would land him an actual date later on in the summer. Hopefully before their senior year ended. He didn't want to go all four years without some action.

But his outfit was visually appealing. It was form-fitting in most regards and showed off his musculature. Although that rarely earned him any marks with the ladies. More dudes just coming up and asking him how much his bench was, and recommendations for mass-gainer.

...

Jaune bolted downstairs and into the living room. Nobody else seemed to be in the house from what he could hear. Vi, however, was sitting on the couch reading a book. _Please, let your car be here today. I am not a religious man, but if Oum does exist, please do me this solid!_

"Vi," Jaune shouted, nearly out of breath from his sprint that would have made Pyrrha Nikos look slow. The surprise caused Vi to almost jump out of her chair. "I need to borrow your car!" The older blonde gave him a weird look.

"What for," she asked with a sceptical tone. Her sports car was her baby, and nobody was allowed to mess with it unless they had a good reason. Jaune's mother and father used it whenever they needed to because they cosigned for it, but Vi purchased that thing all on her own. _It must have been nice to have a modelling career..._

Just spit it out Jaune! "Yang invited me out," he confessed, cheeks flushing a deep red. "And I don't have a car, so can I please borrow yours?" A small trickle of sweat pooled on his brow. Jaune was really gambling on this. If not Vi's car, then there was always the farm truck.

Vi seemed to contemplate his request for a moment. It made it that much worse having to wait for her answer. Jaune was now sweating figurative bullets as he stood inside an airconditioned room.

She threw a set of keys at him. "Fine, just don't scratch Ira," Vi ordered, going back to reading her book. "And if your date turns romantic, there is a box of condoms in the glove box." Jaune's face turned beet red, and his cheeks felt like molten steel. "I don't want to have to listen to Mom freak out because you knocked up some girl. Nor do I want to become an aunt at the moment!" _Oh, come on! Why of all things did you say that? Isn't your regular teasing enough?! And it's not even a date!_

"Thanks," Jaune replied in defeat mixed with gratitude. At least he didn't have to drive around in the farm truck. Not that the farm truck is terrible. It's only five years old, and the air conditioner still works. But it hadn't been cleaned in almost three years, so there was a nice coating of mud on the sides.

He more or less wanted Vi's car because it would look better on him. Not that he wanted to impress Yang in any way. Jaune was not one to think that a nice car would impress a girl.

Jaune pushed the screen door open and stepped out onto the front porch. The midafternoon sun shone with great intensity, only mitigated by the clouds covering most of the landscape. Overall, the weather wasn't too terrible. It was just humid.

Vi's car was an absolute beauty. It was a Dodge Viper ACR painted black with one red stripe on its left side. She affectionately named the vehicle 'Ira,' keeping up the naming scheme that started with the family heirloom, Crocea Mors. Even though Crocea Mors was a hundred-year-old sword, and the sports car was only a year or two old at this point. It was still a nice car.

While he wasn't a car guy, he could appreciate the aesthetic quality of the vehicle. His oldest sisters: Rose, Saph, and Noire all had their own fancy cars because they were bigshots who could afford them. Sadly, Marron and Jaune had yet to come up with that kind of wealth. After all, not every child of the Arc Family could become an actress, model, engineer, or doctor so early in their lives. It didn't help that their father demanded they pay for their own luxuries.

Turning the keys, the engine roared to life. Jaune let his foot off the clutch to give the vehicle a chance to cool down. The humidity was awful even inside of a garage. It forced Jaune to leave the door open, so he didn't die from heat stroke before picking up Yang.

Wouldn't that be embarrassing? Dying from heatstroke before what was supposed to be a 'date/not-date.'

Jaune checked the last of his stuff before departing. Wallet. Keys. He opened up the glove box to find that there was indeed a box of condoms in there. Tucking that further into the compartment and under an owner's manual so nobody would notice it. (They weren't gonna get any use.) Once everything was in place, Jaune put the transmission into gear and peeled out of the driveway.

[About an hour later]

Pulling up to Yang's house, Jaune parked in the driveway next to an old Mustang. The other vehicle's hood was up, and tools were spread all over the path. Somebody was working on restoring it, but Jaune couldn't see who it was. Nobody was outside other than Jaune at the moment.

Jaune sent a quick text to Yang letting her now he was here. Several thoughts ran through his head all at once. Some were minor like what was going to be covered in the next session of class. Others were a bit more philosophical in nature. The one that was most concerning was, "Why did she invite me out?"

Their friendly outing wasn't a date. Nor had Yang ever shown previous interest in him. Jaune at least knew how to tell if a girl was interested in him. Vi and Marron were very particular about telling him any behaviours that would give an indication that was the case. But Yang just didn't seem into him. Being asked to come hang out didn't really fit the bill either.

They had hung out a few times ever since their last phone call. Ruby and Yang had come over every day to play video games or just to hang out. And it was a lot of fun, to be honest. Just not enough to warrant romantic feelings. Yang didn't flirt with Jaune whenever she had previously come over. So that threw him for a loop.

Maybe it was just to blow off some steam. Jaune could live with that. It would help get his mind off of what he read about earlier today. There wasn't enough rage-inducing Dark Souls to take up an entire summer, so this was a nice change of pace. He just needed to act like himself, not the weeb version of Jaune, the normal slightly unconfident Jaune from before last week. That would do nicely.

 _Dad said to be confident when you're going out with a girl. Just be confident..._

The front door to Yang's house opened up and shut shortly after. Jaune looked up from his scroll to see the blonde in all her glory. Wearing a black t-shirt with a fireball in the shape of a heart on it, and a pair of yellow shorts showing off her muscular yet smooth legs. Jaune had to keep himself from drooling as he watched Yang approach the passenger door.

She opened the door and sat in the passenger seat. "So, Jauney Boy," Yang took the lead with her trademark grin. "Trying to impress me with Violette's car?" Jaune had to look away lest she caught sight of his blush. He could hear her shuffle and then the lock of a seatbelt. "I think I got my answer." She let out a giggle. Relishing in Jaune's pain. "How many favours did you have to fork up to Vi to let you borrow her Viper?"

Jaune managed to suppress the blush. If it were not for the air conditioner, he would have been sweating bullets. "None actually," he answered, trying to remain as casual as possible. "I just asked, and she let me have it for the day. We just can't scratch it." He shuddered at the thought of what would happen if they did damage her car.

"Don't worry," Yang replied, leaning back into her seat. "Where we're going, you won't have to worry about it!" She snatched the AUX cord and set her music up. The first song on queue was the remix of, I Burn. Good song. It perfectly described her too.

"And where are we off to, Milady," Jaune asked in an overtly Medieval sounding accent. He had to admit, that came out pretty smoothly. Just some light-hearted humour to tease the mood.

Yang laughed. "Oh kind sir, please if you would be so chivalrous," she imitated his accent in a much more dramatic fashion putting Jaune's to shame. "Take me into Vale. I shall direct you as we approach."

 _Ok Jaune, good start! Just keep this up. Try to be yourself. Have fun. That's not too difficult, right? Talk to Yang like how you talked on the phone. She's just a lot closer now, and you're within face-stabbing range._

[Vale]

The drive into Vale was filled with minor conversation. Mostly Yang making jokes and Jaune playing along with them. There was some discussion about the plans for today, but Yang was tight-lipped about them. Despite not being aware of whatever she had going on, Jaune wasn't going to fret over it.

Crossing into the city, the pair was met with the skyline of Vale. Massive skyscrapers eclipsed the surrounding landscape casting a shadow over everything they dwarfed. The concrete jungle was a mess of people, cars, and infrastructure all coming together into one of the largest cities on the planet. A true cosmopolitan as well as the economic centre of Remnant.

He loved coming to the city. There was always something to do and even more to explore. On many occasions, he was dragged on an excursion against his will by his sisters, but that was a part of being their only brother. However, it was enticing when Marron brought him and Yang along.

They passed through the centre of the city. Yang directing him through the weaving pattern of traffic and people. Their path took them by the House of Representatives situated inside the Capital Building.

The Capital Building sat in the town square. Its massive domed roof symbolised the government of Vale. Inside the administrative structure, the House of Representatives and the Council under the leadership of Head Councilman Ozpin led the Valish government. An odd system, but it prevented any more than one person from holding too much power. Unlike Atlas, that was dictated by General Ironwood who held absolute power.

"Ok, turn here," Yang instructed, pointing to a street leading them closer to the downtown area. Jaune might have disagreed since that was closer to the district where most of the 'Mince Meat Murders' took place, but given that it was still daytime he acquiesced. Maybe when it got closer to dusk, he would cut their excursion short. Serial killers by trend tended to operate at night or closer to it.

The section they were in at the moment was a bit quieter than most of the city. It was a residential area but still bordered by massive apartment buildings with the occasional skyscraper mixed in. The street was rather slow as well, unlike the freeway they had come off of earlier. Vehicles bordered both sides of the road making the drive a little congested, but Jaune was able to weave in and out of the mess.

"So, when are you going to tell me where exactly are we going," Jaune asked, making the turn. Yang was known for her spontaneity so it wouldn't surprise him if she hadn't decided what they were going to do. She apparently had a destination in mind, but whatever it was she clearly wanted to keep it a secret for now. That didn't mean Jaune couldn't press her for information.

"When we get there," she playfully answered, sitting up in her seat. Jaune could see her playing on her scroll out of the corner of his eye. _She's even more laid back than usual. Well, she's usually pretty easy-going. Probably just trying to enjoy this as much as I am._

Police sirens began blaring from behind the car. Jaune pulled to the side as did everyone else in front of them. Two police cars followed by an ambulance flew past him and nearly took out his mirror. The air displaced by the vehicles rocked the Viper back and forth. _What's going on?_

"What was that," Yang exclaimed. She reached down to pick up her scroll off the floor. Jaune didn't notice until she went for the device that Yang was actually startled by how abrupt and loud that was. _Guess she's on edge too._

 _We've all been on edge lately._ Marron even admitted that she was feeling stressed out and was trying to do her best to keep it under control. Hearing about school shootings and then actually being a part of an attack made for some scary stuff.

"Don't know," Jaune cautiously replied. _It probably has to do with what I saw this morning. Maybe they found another body or a survivor? Can't let it affect our trip._ "Let's just keep going. Don't want to waste any more time right?!" Jaune shifted the mood to be a bit more cheerful. He didn't want to let anything ruin their day.

"Yep," Yang chirped, looking over at him. "I got a few hours of fun planned for us! And you're going to love it!" _Oh, I have so much confidence in your investment._

...

They had pulled into the parking lot of a large mall in the business district of Vale. The mall just wasn't one large building, but several dozen all on the same lot. This plaza, in particular, was one of Vale's largest shopping centres in the capital city. A popular place among its younger denizens.

Jaune found a parking spot closer to the compound and drove right into it. The parking lot was surprisingly empty all things considered. Less than half of the spots were taken up. Of course, this was a Tuesday afternoon so there wouldn't be that many people, but this is the largest mall in all of Vale. The lot should have been at least three-fourths full even on a weekday. It could have been related to the killings or any number of things that gave people an excuse to merely not go anywhere for the time being.

The pair got out of the car simultaneously, grabbing whatever items they needed for the day. Jaune slid his wallet into his back pocket, and his keys into his front left. He had made sure to bring some extra lien with him today in case he needed it. Being prepared was better than not being prepared and lacking that which you had previously had the shortsightedness to not bring. It would also be really embarrassing to not have enough money on hand to pay for something like food.

"Ok, Farm Boy," Yang bashfully exclaimed, wrapping her one of her arms around Jaune's and pulling the limb in between her breasts. The boy's arm immediately flexed on instinct, and his body and brain stopped working. "I propose a wager." She looked up at him with a stupid looking grin on her face. _Oum! Why is she doing this to me?!_

"W-What kind of bet," Jaune stammered, trying to keep his composure as his tricep felt through her shirt. A firm blush had set itself into place. _Her chest feels like two bags of gelatin! This would be totally awesome if it weren't so terrifying!_

He should have expected Yang to take any opportunity she could to tease him. It was exactly like her to do so. And if Jaune was man enough to admit it. He kind of liked how she was teasing him at the moment. Not many other guys were given this kind of treatment. Actually, to Jaune's knowledge, he was the only one who Yang regularly teased.

Yang began dragging Jaune into the mall. His arm still firmly locked in place. "Whoever loses our little contest has to pay for food," she proposed, obviously hiding whatever motives she had in mind. "And to be fair, it's something that you and I can do. You, Muscles," she poked his right bicep that flexed at the touch, "might have an advantage over me, but don't think it'll be easy!" Considering how Yang is ridiculously strong as well, they were pretty evenly matched. Actually, Yang was probably stronger than Jaune. There's a reason why she's number one in women's powerlifting for her weight class.

"Contest," Jaune hesitantly asked with a quizzical look on his face. He calmed down a bit as Yang led him further into the mall. _What is she playing at?_

"Rock climbing," she exuberantly replied sporting her trademark Cheshire grin. _That actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'm glad I'm not afraid of heights._ "Whoever gets to the top first, wins! And I don't intend on this being a close race!" Yang continued to drag him through the odd crowds of people. Nobody seemed to mind the two teenagers. Many probably thought they were a couple. Which could be a good or a bad thing. Mainly because Jaune might have to explain why he was seen practically holding hands with his blonde counterpart. His fellow male students would have had a field day with him if any had seen him like this.

"So this rock climbing place," Jaune began, still hesitant to really push for conversation. "Is it like one of those franchises where people pay to have fun for an hour then never go back?" Essentially what half of the businesses in the mall were. Novelty entertainment that parents would be forced to take their children to because one of their classmates had a birthday party.

"Oh, yeah," Yang agreed in earnest. "They've got trampolines, an arcade, and really crappy pizza that tastes like cardboard." _Ah yes, I love cardboard pizza._ "But, hey, if we get bored, I can think of other activities that might be more satisfying..." Her tone shifted from her casual upbeatedness to a more sultry one.

Jaune let out a nervous chuckle. The implication sent a shiver down his spine even though she was still teasing him. However, he was not willing to go down without a fight.

"I expected something a bit more mature from you, Yang," Jaune went on the offensive. "It seems the legendary Yang Xiao Long is losing her edge." He was now sporting his own shit-eating grin.

Yang punched him in the arm, letting Jaune go in the process. "Uh, Yang Xiao Long always has an edge," she fired back, poking him in the chest. Her cheeks flushed a bright pink. "And everything I do doesn't have to be mature! I am perfectly fine with stooping to this level!" _Yang's even cuter when she's all flustered._

"Oh, it seems I've struck a nerve," Jaune continued teasing the blonde. "Don't worry, I won't hold it over you. Just accept that I got one over you for once!" Yang pouted and blew a raspberry at him in response.

"You are so going to eat those words!"

...

It took them another twenty minutes to find their destination. Yang kept insisting that she knew exactly where the place was, but they were seemingly never able to find it. She finally gave up, and the pair asked a security guard where the bouldering gym was. Turns out, they passed right by it when the first entered the mall.

Standing outside of the bouldering gym, Jaune and Yang were dumbfounded. The lights inside the business were off, and nobody seemed to be working on the inside. It appeared to be closed even though it was within operating hours.

"Uh, Yang," Jaune began. "I think your plans didn't exactly pan out." She shot him a look. _I just earned the smartass award..._

"Come on," she huffed, pulling on the door that refused to budge. If she tugged any harder, the door might have come off its hinges. "It says they should have been open." Yang ran a hand through her hair, turning to Jaune. "There goes that idea. What should we do now?" _Why are you putting me on the spot?! I don't exactly have a lot of experience with these things!_

 _Ok, Jaune! Think! What is the universally accepted place to go hang out?_ Suddenly an idea smacked him in the face like a freight train. _Coffee. Of course! You and Blake used to do that all the time!_

"Wanna get some coffee," Jaune suggested, gesturing to a nearby cafe, that he and Blake used to go to. "We're here so we might as well do something." Hopefully, Yang would agree, and they could just sit down for an hour and have a light conversation.

"Coffee," Yang expressed her surprise, crossing her arms. "Since when have you ever liked coffee?" _I thought that was common knowledge. Or I thought Marron might have told her. It's not even a secret either._

"Blake got me into it after our seventh-grade year," Jaune answered, beginning to head towards the coffee shop with Yang in tow. He knew full well that he may have led himself into a trap. Not that he cared very much about it. Those were friendly outings to get coffee and to hang out.

An evil looking grin appeared on Yang's lips. "Awwww," she cooed, clasping her hands together in an adorable manner. "You and Blakey were dating! Did you guys hold hands the entire time?! Or was that before Kitty-Kat took you back to her place and rode you like a-" Jaune knew precisely where that was going, and it didn't need to go any farther.

"Yep, I'm gonna stop you there," Jaune abruptly cut her off, holding back his annoyance at the tease. "Blake and I were never dating despite whatever rumours you may have heard. Strictly friends..."

The rumours surrounding the extent to Jaune and Blake's relationship were interesting, to say the least. Many guys were jealous of Jaune because he was best friends with one of the most beautiful girls in their class until Yang showed up. And many more thought they were in a romantic relationship. Not that Jaune didn't play with the idea. He was most certainly attracted to Blake, both for her wealth of personality and her general physical traits.

What bothered him the most about the rumours was having to hear his fellow male students talk about Blake behind her back. The so-called "ass men" of Signal Academy labelled her posterior, "The Bellabooty." Said nickname was given to that anatomical feature because of her curvaceous figure although lacking an especially ample bust size.

And while Jaune could agree to a certain extent on her butt's visual appeal. (He was a red-blooded male after all.) The nickname was degrading and objectified her. Something that he often refused to stand for. Which began Jaune's descent into general loserdom because of his fervent defence of his best friend's dignity.

"Seriously," Yang exclaimed in astonishment. "You never even tried to ask her out?! Like you did with half of the girls in our freshman year!" It most certainly was not half, but it was close to that amount. Unfortunately, Dante, the self-proclaimed "ladies man," goaded him into asking these girls out.

"No," Jaune replied, rubbing his jawline. "I didn't want to hurt our relationship, so I left it alone. And when she moved, Dante swooped in and was dead set on making me find a girlfriend, not that I wasn't already looking for a relationship. I was just awful at knowing where to look and punched way above my weight class." Yang stared dead into his eyes. Her disapproval of Jaune's moping was obvious.

"Nope."

"What..."

"Nope," she repeated herself. "You most certainly were not punching above your weight class!" Yang poked him in the chest again and then flicked his nose. "You just went about it the wrong way. Girls just don't like that overly showy crap you were pulling!" She opened the door to the cafe, and Jaune followed her in.

 _Great. Somebody tells me this after I've already crashed and burned..._

...

The Anteiku coffee shop was a small store just off the main square of the mall. It was a favourite spot for those passing through and was the premier hang out for Blake and Jaune. The blonde had familiarised himself with the small space and had a thorough knowledge of the coffees served here. Although, it had been a few years since he had last patronised the small business.

Jaune and Yang both placed their orders and were given the bill. Yang reached for her wallet, but Jaune stopped her. "I got this," he asserted, pulling out a stack of lien and handing it to the cashier.

"Oh, so I can't pay for my own coffee," she accused in response. Her tone indicated she wasn't serious about it and was trying to put Jaune in a corner. And Jaune wasn't some misogynist who didn't think women could take care of themselves. Yang was undoubtedly able to take care of herself, and completely capable of crushing Jaune's head in between her biceps like a walnut if he had any doubts.

Jaune snorted, "Nope, I'm sure you are perfectly capable of paying for your own coffee," he countered, his confidence refused to break. "But my dad would skin me alive if I didn't offer." Yang burst out laughing. Several other customers looked their way as the blonde's booming voice filled the room.

"Then your offer is much appreciated," she replied, taking her coffee in her left hand. Jaune followed behind her as she made her way over to a table.

Their chosen table sat in front of a large window. The pane of glass was sandwiched in between a row of chairs on the inside and a row of hedges on the outside. Several other patrons sat on either side of the two blondes and went about their business.

Sitting across from Yang, Jaune leaned back into the chair as he took a sip from his coffee. His scroll buzzed in his pocket bringing his attention to the device. _What's this?_ He read a notification on the lock screen of his scroll. It was another update on the 'Mince Meat Murders' case.

"What's so interesting about your scroll Jaune," Yang asked, looking at him through the device. "A pretty girl texting you?" Jaune's cheeks heated up and cooled soon after.

"Nope," Jaune answered. "An update on a story. I've just started following it this morning." Hopefully, she wouldn't push any farther. The details were gorier than he had previously thought. A dozen more corpses were found in various parts of the city. The pattern of drops seemed random and unorganised, but the killings followed an MO.

"Anything, juicy," she inquired, taking a sip from her coffee. "Anti-LGBT politician being caught with a gay hooker? The stock market crashed again? We're at war with Mistral?" Frankly, all of those were pretty interesting and would have made for a good read. But she was dead wrong.

"No-no and no," Jaune replied, setting the scroll down on the table. "Vale seems to have a new serial killer or several." Yang leaned in even farther than she was before.

"Now that is interesting," she concluded, taking a look at the news story. "I am a sucker for True Crime after all." _Huh, I didn't know that. It seems kind of, out of character for her. I know she doesn't like to read, but I guess that's what she's interested in._ "With another serial killer running around, you might need someone to protect you. But don't worry Farm Boy! Yang Xiao Long will there."

"Yes, because the wannabe journalist cannot fight," Jaune quipped, playing off his own self-deprecating humour. "I can probably beat you in a fight if I had to." He leaned in enough to where his face was only a few inches away from hers.

"Oh, so you think you can go with me," Yang taunted, cracking her knuckles. "You won't last one round." Jaune started laughing and plopped back down into his chair.

"I might take you up on that if I wasn't afraid of damaging your pretty face," he countered, eliciting another blush from Yang.

Yang's lips curled into a grin. "Oh, you've just earned yourself another chance to go out with me," she stated, taking one last sip of her coffee. "And next time, we're going to a gym, and we'll see if you're not all talk."

...

Dusk approached, and the pair decided to end their outing there. By the time they reached Yang's house, night had fully set in. Street lamps illuminated the roads as did the lights from the passing vehicles. A black, starless sky had blanketed the landscape.

"So, Yang," Jaune began, taking a turn onto her street. "Why did you invite me out?" This was the question he had wanted to ask the entire time. Jaune hadn't brushed on the other topics he wanted to. Like, his crush on her.

"Ohhh, I was bored," she casually replied. "Marron was busy, so you were the backup." _That was depressing. I wasn't even the first person who she considered. It feels like every time we had to pick teams in P.E._

"So, I'm like the last person you asked," Jaune inquired, hoping her answer wasn't going to be worse than he thought it would be.

"Nope," Yang chirped. "You were the first person I asked after Marron! Besides, when have we ever hung out?" _Basically never._

"I see."

Jaune pulled the car into the driveway. The Mustang had since been moved. Yang's house was all lit up, and Jaune could make out several figures moving around in the living room. It seemed like an average Tuesday night if he had seen one.

Yang popped open her door and stepped out. "See you later Jaune!" She shut the door and ran up to her house.

Once Jaune was sure she was out of sight. He cheered in celebration as if he were at a football game. That excitement had been pent up for the entire duration of their outing. Now he had the chance to let it all out.

"Yeeeeessssssssss! Ohhh mmyyyyy godddddd!" Jaune's heart was racing a million miles per minute. It felt like he had just run a marathon. He had never been so excited before in his life.

...

Jaune had left Vale entirely and began heading back to his own house. The lights of the city were a distant spot on the horizon compared to the lights of the telephone poles. The dimly-lit backroads were shrouded in darkness. Massive forests bordering the roads amplified this effect.

He had the radio turned up and was listening to the news. Something to calm himself down after a full day of stress. He needed to catch up on current events and decided to use this time to do so. Usually, Jaune would have listened to music the entire time, but he was slacking when it came to his hobbies.

A jingle came over the radio.

 _ **Breaking news.**_

 _ **Dozens more attacks have taken place in the downtown districts of the city. The growing number of incidents has reached into the hundreds with over fifty people being attacked in less than twenty-four hours.**_

 _ **Authorities are unsure of the cause of these attacks and have issued a plea to remain off the streets at this time. If you are a resident of Vale, please do your best an-**_

The radio turned to garble.

"Oh come on, what the fuck," Jaune cursed as he reached down to adjust the device. Turning the knob, the static cut in and out while it remained unintelligible.

Jaune glanced up and saw a man standing right in the middle of his lane. "Oh, shit!" He swerved out of the way. The vehicle barely managed to avoid hitting him. His blue coloured clothing fluttered as the Viper pass by him.

The vehicle lost control and went into a spin. Jaune yanked his steering wheel in the direction of the swerve in the hope he could pull himself out of it. The car spun four times before it came to a complete stop. It ended up on the shoulder of the road opposite to where Jaune originally was. Any farther and he would have ended up in a ditch.

Jaune looked to his left in the direction the man was supposed to be in. He had vanished into thin air. Jaune expected the guy to just have dove to the side, so he didn't get hit by the car. But he wasn't anywhere to be seen.

 _What the fuck..._ Jaune's heart was nearly beating out of his chest. The adrenaline was pumping through his veins heightening each of his senses. He had to take several breaths to calm himself down. His right hand grasped at the muscle resting above his heart. _Ok, Jaune. Calm down..._

There was no way Jaune was going to get out of the car to go look for the man. If he had run off and into the woods, then that was his problem. It was the dark out, and there was nobody else around to come to save Jaune's ass if this had been a trap. _I'll tell dad about when I get back to the house._

Jaune put the Viper into reverse and backed up. Once he was far enough away from the edge of the road, he pushed the clutch in and shifted back into first gear. He eased into the gas as to not stall the vehicle and slowly raised his foot off the clutch.

The car began moving forward, and Jaune continued heading home. He needed to find something to take for the fucking heart attack he just had.

* * *

 **Like I said, the next few chapters are a return to normalcy for our heroes, however, it still shadowed by the impending doom. Chapter ten is where it all goes to shit.**

 **Now my rationale for having Vi's car be a Viper is simply because I see the Arcs as a generally wealthy family. Their family has a reputation in the canon to be famous for many things, and I feel like the rest of the Arc children would represent that. Jaune and Marron have yet to rise to greatness, and Vi is just starting out as a model. So you can inference her appearance from there and her own wealth.**

 **1\. To Guest. The story arcs will be about 50-60 chapters apiece. I'm splitting them by year. So Arc 1 is the first year of the Outbreak. Otherwise known as the Outbreak Arc. I have the three other arcs already planned out. I just need to eventually write them up. And depending on my schedule, I will have this first arc finished in about two years. This story is supposed to be written in a diary-esque form. With every chapter being a single day.**

 **2\. Ehbon 172 left an amazing review. He didn't post the entire thing by accident so I will post his analysis here.**

 **To start us off, lets talk about the nemesis of insects/arthropods everywhere... Cordyceps. This lovely family of fungal parasites are known for their ability to attach themselves to their hosts and assume control of their bodies, after overcoming the host's bodily defenses. They achieve this through their spores, which stick to the bodies of their hosts and slowly eat away at their exoskeletons; before eventually spreading throughout their host's body in its yeast phase and manipulating the host's behavior in a way that is beneficial to the fungus. Cordyceps Unilateralis, for example, makes the host ant travel to a warm, humid location (the ideal climate for them to grow and spread their spores) and attach itself securely to a leaf before the parasitic fungus kills and digests the host. Each species of Cordyceps specializes in controlling a specific host species and only very rarely infect other similar species (Usually dying without successfully reproducing when they do). A Cordyceps that has mutated to target humans would likely need to be different from its simpler brethren to be effective. This next paragraph is how I imagine a Cordyceps that has just mutated to target humans, and the course of its development.**

 **At first, the Cordyceps Humanitas (that's what I'm going to refer to it as from now on, so as to differentiate itself from its lesser cousins) would likely be very terrible at its job. The first few generations of the fungus would have to 'experiment' to discover what behavior is most beneficial for it. Most of the first few generations will fail spectacularly, only spreading through ingestion and the coincidental death of their host (perhaps remaining largely unnoticed, or deemed harmless/unimportant). After many generations the now-experienced species will likely discover that erratic, or violent, behavior is beneficial during its yeast phase, the slowly blooming spores in the body of the host infecting the wounds of any its host attacks. The bloodstream of the newly infected would carry the already active spores throughout their body, securing it another possible host. Only a small percentage of the infected would be suitable to produce the next generation of spores, so most infected would remain in this semi-blooming spore state until the parasite damages the host beyond repair and kills them. Those infected that are deemed suitable would move on to the next phase, where hyphae spread across some of the soft outer tissue of their body and strengthen it into chitinous masses that protect vital organs (Cordyceps Unilateralis already does this and The Last of Us used this idea as an excuse to make their zombies tougher). The purpose of this type of infected is not to infect more humans, however, and they would grow weaker and weaker as the fungus digests them from the inside through the hyphae. As this type of infected is being digested, it would search for a suitable location to die and bear the next generation of spores (most likely a location of high elevation and appropriate climate, for maximum wind spreadage). The infected would curl up and die upon reaching this location, mycelia spreading from the corpse into the surrounding ground to provide further support for the fungus. Thus, this infected would reach the final stage where it would be completely converted to nutrients for the fungus. During the process, the fungus would sprout a single, tree-like stalk from the corpse of the infected (to further increase the altitude from which the spores will spread) before finally 'blooming' and releasing its spores. The spores would then be blown by the wind for miles in every direction, sticking to any surface they come into contact with and lying dormant in wait for a new host to start the cycle anew.**  
 **Symptoms of the infected would likely be similar to those of other members of the Cordyceps family, including full-body convulsions and odd behavior. Individuals with poor hygiene who had spores stuck to them would likely have a terrible rash or raw skin, due to them not washing their skin regularly to remove the spores (The spores have enzymes that eat through skin, like most Cordyceps).**

 **While a vast majority of the populous would be susceptible to this infection, I imagine a small percentage would have an immune system too strong for it to overcome and would become effectively immune to this parasite after developing a resistance. Those that aren't immune would need to have good hygiene and a healthy immune system to remain unaffected by this parasite, and would likely become infected should their immune system be compromised by another illness or injury. The elderly, sick, and very young children would be incredibly vulnerable to the infection and most, if not all, of the non-immune members of this category would become infected. Burning the corpses of the fallen would need to become a common practice to ensure no spore stalks could sprout from them, and bringing said corpses into contact with other corpses or the injured could lead to a terrible chain reaction (The early victims of attacks brought to morgues would likely contaminate every other corpse in the morgue, making all of them a potential new spore stalk. The newly infected survivors of any attacks could potentially contaminate an entire hospital). Most of the unskilled immune people would die to the infected or the general mayhem, and the combat capabilities of any immune would need to swiftly improve to have a chance of survival.**

 **The infected themselves would likely be rather resistant to bullets, as only bullets that struck vital organs would truly kill them. Too maddened to feel pain, they would continue to charge into a rain of gunfire and it would take a lot of ammunition to reliably put them down. Melee weapons would prove to be far more efficient at disabling infected, but come with the added risk of injury or infection. Older infected in the second and third stage would likely be flammable, as the host becomes rapidly dehydrated.**


	6. Day 11

**Finally I got this thing updated.**

 **I couldn't really do anything with this fic until I had some extra time on my hands. But now it's finished.**

 **This chapter pretty much deals with more context as to Jaune's condition. He and Yang start to get a little closer as well due to what happened at Beacon. More character building and whatnot.**

 **Our two favourite blondes will continuously move closer together before one of the two decides to kiss the other. This is the start of that.**

 **But, I have recently decided that next chapter shall be where the fecal matter hits the apparatus with rotating blades. So, I'm pretty excited for it. Things will go completely and utterly tits-up from here on out.**

 **I just couldn't come up with anything to get us to chapter ten, so I chose to say 'Fuck it,' and went for the next chapter. This chapter is pretty much filler.**

 **However, we do get some world-building concepts. I designed this version of Vale to be a blend of the UK and the US, so there is going to be a shit ton of guns (not that they are going to help when shit goes down at least for the poor little people.) And I bring those into the story for the first time.**

 **So back to the adventures of Joel-Jaune!**

* * *

 _Jaune had recently finished his date with Yang. He was heading back to his house, having left the city almost a half-hour ago. Occupying the driver's seat of the Viper, he navigated the roads before him in an almost effortless fashion, whipping around bends and the winding passes before him._

 _Dark forests bordered both sides of the road. Thick leaves from their time in the summer had blacked out any and all light. The only source coming from his headlights and the faint glow from inside his car. Neon red creating a dim glow that lit up the lower half of Jaune's face._

 _Jaune's heart fluttered with all of the hormones coursing through his veins. The girl he was head over heels for invited him out for a whole day. It was probably the greatest thing to ever happen to the boy. Only if he could gather the courage to actually go to her! Being the coward that he was, Jaune was too nervous to tell the girl how he felt!_

 _It was too irritating. Too infuriating! To be able to describe._

 _His hands clenched the steering wheel, letting out a breath of air. Jaune's chest kept pounding with everything he was experiencing. Once again, his feelings for her came to the surface._

 _Jaune turned to the radio, twisting one of the knobs to his desired station. A light series of beats came up, paired with a young woman singing. Something to distract his mind and heart from his crush. At least this song was not a love song._

 _The faint smell of an air freshener wafted into Jaune's nose. A floral scent. No, a tropical one. Yet there was a hint of chlorine behind it. It was not very strong at first, yet began to grow more and more pungent as time went on._

 _Suddenly the radio turned to garble. Screeching and growling came from the device as the music turned to static, before hissing and becoming white noise._

 _"What the hell?" Jaune reached for the radio and began fiddling with the knobs. Hoping he could find the station that was on previously or switch to another one. Maybe he was just out of signal range?_

 _He took his eyes off the road for just one second to sneak a peek at the radio. Switching the device back on to his station, allowing the music to once again play._

 _As Jaune turned his attention back to the road, a man stood in front of his vehicle. He was ten feet away from the car, and there was nothing Jaune could hope to try avoiding him. The boy swerved the Viper, connecting with the person at nearly fifty miles an hour with the front right bumper of the vehicle._

 _All Jaune could see was the man's blue garments fly up as he connected with his windshield, completely spider-webbing the pane of glass. Shattered pieces of glass flew inward as the man's body pushed the windshield inwards. Blood immediately coating portions of the glass._

 _The vehicle spun several times in a clockwise formation. Jaune did everything he could to pull himself back out of it, turning into the spin. He pulled his foot off the pedals trying to let his car gain some form of traction. The vehicle spun several more times. A thick trail of smoke followed as the rubber from the tires burned on the asphalt._

 _Before Jaune knew it, his car found the edge of the road, dipping into a nearby ravine. Everything inside the car going airborne as their inertia carried them upwards. Jaune's heart doing the same as it climbed into his throat. The whole system still spun as it made its descent._

 _Jaune and his car slammed into the bottom of the ravine. The force from the impact threw his face forward, smacking his nose into the steering wheel. A hard crack erupted from the cartilage beak as both his nasal bone and septal cartilage blew apart. Blood began running done from a gash on the bridge of his nose._

 _As the vehicle came to a final stop, it slid and slammed into a tree. The thick hunk of wood buried itself into the engine block. Thick plumes of smoke rising out from the vehicle as it lay there._

 _Jaune himself was in a daze. His vision was heavily blurred, seeing multiples of everything. He pulled his hand up to his face to touch his nose, hissing as blistering pain coursed through his face. A cry came from deep within his throat, forcing him to tense up._

 _He took several breaths to calm himself down. Pressing the back of his head to the headrest to hopefully catch his breath. As he calmed down, Jaune took a glance at the situation around him. He fumbled, trying to get his seat belt off as he did not have enough coordination left at the moment._

 _Jaune looked over to see his Scroll in the passenger seat. The device bent into an ovular shape. The screen shattered in a brilliant spider web._

 _Shit! What do I do?! Think dammit!_

 _A shuffle came from the outside of his car. Jaune could hear what sounded like a man walking around. He tried peering through his windshield to get a view. There had been just a quarter of the glass where it had been folded inward giving a way to see out of the car._

 _Jaune caught a glimpse of the man's hair. The messily styled locks combed backwards with a peak in the middle. He couldn't see the rest of the man, but he was standing a few feet away from the front of the car._

 _"Hey, is someone out there," Jaune weakly called out. He hoped the man was a bystander checking out the wreck. Maybe he had a Scroll that worked?_

 _A grunt came from the man. He whipped around and stared directly at the car. His body made twitching movements as he did so. More grunts - gurgles even, followed._

 _"Hello!"_

 _A phlegmular scream was the only response. The man lept on the car, making a beeline for the open window. Light from the headlights allowed Jaune to see the man's face._

 _Cardin._

 _His maxillary and mandible were bloodied as was the rest of his face. Sections of skin missing in chunks exposing bone in places. Teeth were jagged, completely nonexistent, or hanging by thin pieces of tissue._

 _Cardin flew at the windshield in a rage, slamming into the already crippled glass. Thrusting his arm through to grasp at Jaune's face. The man screaming bloody murder as he attacked. With every yell or utter, blood spilt out onto the shattered window._

 _"Oh, fuck," Jaune cried out as he reached for his seatbelt. The clip coming unlatched, allowing him to throw himself from the vehicle._

 _Landing on his hands and knees, Jaune quickly went from a crawl to half run. Adrenaline coursing through his veins, making sure he would be able to move uninhibited by pain. He made a dash for the hill._

 _"HELP SOMEBODY HELP!" Jaune continued screaming this as he crawled the up the steep slope. There had to somebody else around!_

 _The window of the car gave in behind him. Cardin spilt out into the front compartment and then the ground where Jaune had been. He too quickly made it to his feet and into a full sprint._

 _Jaune crawled halfway up the slope, looking behind him to see Cardin just at the bottom. His breathing hitched as he caught another glimpse of that broken face. Not even bothering to think about it, Jaune crawled at an even faster pace, scared out of his wits._

 _A hand grasped at his foot, clutching the ball of Jaune's heel with a firm grip. Cardin tugged with little effort behind it and sent his quarry tumbling down the hill. The boy landing on his back, smacking his head on the dirt._

 _"Ughh," Jaune hissed, seizing up from the landing._

 _He looked up to see Cardin descending upon him. A look of hunger in the man's eye as he lept onto Jaune. The other boy kicked at his face, sending him backwards._

 _Jaune crawled on his back before flipping himself over. He intended to head into the woods where he could lose Cardin there. A pair of hands on his shoulders ended that fantasy._

 _The steel-like grip on his shoulders outmatched Jaune's strength as he was thrown onto his back again. Cardin jumping on the boy, punching him in the face multiple times. Each blow connecting with the already broken nose._

 _Jaune threw his own punch back but found it swatted away. He had become too dazed to try anything else, thrashing about in the hope he could get him off._

 _Cardin grabbed both sides of his head with a vice grip. Nails digging into the skin. Pulling his thumbs over Jaune's eyes._

 _Jaune reached up and tried to push the man's face away from him._

 _But as he tried that, both thumbs were pressed downwards._

 _All Jaune could do was scream as Cardin gouged out his eyes._

 **Day 11**

[Jaune]

Jaune woke up screaming, shooting up in his bed and into a sitting rest position. His body shone with a thin layer of sweat, some dripping off his brow. In contrast to his mouth where there was no moisture, feeling like coarse sandpaper. His hands gripped the sheets with a white-knuckled death-grip.

He looked around and could see nothing but darkness in front of him. The blinds were drawn, and no moonlight was allowed in. However, there were shapes in front of Jaune that he could make out. A desk and the faint outline of the door.

"You were having a nightmare," a calming voice spoke up from the side.

He looked to his left and saw Marron next to him. She had been there for who knows how long. The girl staring at him with a face that screamed concern. One of her hands was placed in his shoulder from where she had been shaking him.

 _Fuck! Again!_

Vi busted through the door, turning on the lights. "What's going on?! We heard screaming!" Her face indicated she was more frightened than anything else. A scared looking Blanche and Rouge were right behind her.

Jaune thought back to what happened.

His dream. No, a nightmare. That disgusting look on Cardin's face. It all seemed so real.

He suddenly grew nauseous.

Jaune threw the covers off of him and sprinted to the door. Vi, barely moved out of his way before she was knocked over by the boy. Leaving the bedroom for the bathroom across the hall.

Throwing the door open, Jaune dove into the washroom. His head finding the toilet and subsequently vomiting. Several retches with nothing at first before something came up. Thick bile mixed with whatever Jaune had eaten the previous night.

He could hear his sisters talking behind his back while his face was in the toilet.

"Is mom back," Marron asked, whispering just loud enough for Jaune to hear. There was a bit of impatience behind her tone. Jaune understood it and even felt it on some levels, wishing she were here.

"No, she's still at the hospital," Vi replied, coming closer to Jaune. She knelt down next him with a glass of water. "Here." His older sister handed him the glass.

Jaune sucked down the water with glee. It washed the taste of vomit from his mouth and brought some moisture to his throat. Then ending up in the toilet as another retch came up. Several more followed with what was left in the boy's stomach.

Once he was finished puking his guts up, Jaune pulled away from the toilet bowl. Sitting down between it and bathtub, he felt the cold sting of the tile floor against his legs. He let his head rest against the wall so he could continue to catch his breath.

"Dad said he wouldn't be coming back until the afternoon either," Vi added on. looking to her sister then to the younger Arcs. "Rouge - Blanche go back to bed." Both children obeyed and left the hallway.

Jaune preferred that nobody else saw him like this. Frankly, it was quite embarrassing. He confided in Yang, sure, but that was because she was the one to reach out to him. And he did not wish to turn her into his therapist by dumping his problems on her. So, taking care of things on his own was the plan.

Not that his plan was going well, of course. Having two nightmares about what happened with Cardin in less than two weeks being evidence to that.

Vi kneeled down in front of Jaune. "Do you want to go back to sleep," she asked calmly, staring directly at him. She sounded like their mother with the sweet caring look and tone of her voice. Vi would have most likely offered to stay up with him as well as Marron if he had said no.

"Yeah," Jaune answered, wiping some residual moisture on his lip. "I'll just crash on the couch and watch some TV."

Something to calm down for a little bit. Jaune was angry at himself for having another nightmare. Not to mention the added stress of experiencing the horror show concocted by his brain. He just needed an outlet to get his mind off what happened.

"Okay, then," Vi said, standing up and heading to the door. "We'll be up here if you need us." She and Marron both left the hallway and headed back to their rooms. The latter tossing Jaune a new pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

He looked down to see the state of his attire. Jaune's clothes were soaked in sweat. Enough to make his white shirt practically transparent. His grey flannel shorts were no better, stained in most places. The smell was even worse.

 _I need a shower..._

[Yang]

Yang flopped down on Marron's bed. A soft groan left her lips as she settled into the plush mattress. The girl's hair splayed out, covering nearly half the rack. Her Scroll tossed off to some random point.

"You look comfy," Marron said, sitting down a computer. Rolling her seat across from her. The girl grinning as she sat down, pulling her legs up into the chair.

Marron's muscular thighs showed quite nicely with the athletic shorts she was wearing. Especially in that position. It was something Yang was a bit jealous of really. She was not self-conscious about her legs, but between Blake, Marron, and Jaune. They all must've had some secret leg workout to make theirs look so good.

"I am," Yang stated, shuffling before sitting up. "But what did you want to talk about?"

It had been two days since Yang had invited Jaune out. Frankly, that was the most fun she's had in almost two weeks. She had decided to come over with Ruby once again to play more video games. Mainly because her father was still soldiering with Uncle Qrow. That and she was really bored.

"So how did your little date go with Jaune," Marron asked, looking at her fellow blonde with a predatory look. Her ear to ear smile, making her look like the Chesire Cat. And Yang was proud of it.

But was it a date? Like a date-date or just two friends going out? Sure, she had said it was just them going out. They were friends, hopefully. Yang was just unsure if she wanted to consider it a date-date.

So many choices! So many hard decisions to make!

After everything that happened last week, Yang felt it was a good idea to blow off some steam. It seemed to have worked as well. Getting their minds off the bad stuff and having some fun for once. Jaune was also going to be coming along on any future outings with Yang and her friends. He was a blast to be around when they went out.

Yang sat up, brushing her majestic mane off to the side. "It was a lot of fun," she told the truth. "He pleasantly surprised me too." _Jauney Boy really surprised me._

That was probably the most fun she ever had going out on a date/not date. And Yang had been on some really bad dates before. Like one where the guy was frat boy Darth Vader and tried to get into her pants not even five minutes after leaving the club. That one and a few others never lasted long.

Others had tried to get to her through Ruby. Those guys were kicked to the curb, quite literally in some cases. Had Jaune attempted to do so, she would have knocked his ass out and never spoken to him again.

"Was he nervous," Marron asked with hopeful eyes. "Please tell me he was nervous!" She balled up her fists under her chin excitedly. Kind of like what Ruby would sometimes do. It just made her look adorable.

Yang burst into a fit of laughter. "Oh god yes," she exclaimed, looking up at the ceiling. "He was tense the whole time! But," she held up a finger, "he's really good at pretending to be confident! I will give him that! If I didn't know him beforehand, I would have fallen for it."

Jaune's faux confidence was getting better. All he needed to do was turn that into real spirit and not make believe. It would actually make him very appealing to the opposite sex. Especially if he could repeat whatever that was when Cardin showed up. Any girl would reconsider their stance on the boy if he could show just half of that aura again.

"Honestly, Yang continued. A smile on her face. "It was adorable to see him get flustered. Adorkable!" She let out a light chuckle. "I'm sure he told you everything about the date!"

Of course, Jaune would drop an info dump into Marron's lap! The two were closer than even Yang and Ruby were. Not to mention how ecstatic the boy was when he was sure Yang had gone inside the house. The thought of him celebrating after his outing brought a grin to her face.

Marron rubbed the back of her head, sucking in air through her teeth. "He didn't, actually," she said half-heartedly. "That's why I wanted to ask you about it."

Yang leaned forward, her mouth falling open. She was at a loss for words and honestly, couldn't come up with anything to say. Was it something she did? Yang knew the boy was still struggling with what happened at school. Maybe she pushed it too far with teasing him, and something came up because of it? Marron's tone told the blonde everything she needed to know. Something was not right.

"Did something happen," Yang asked, managing to cough up a sentence. She was concerned now, mainly because her attempt to get Jaune to clear his mind from what happened may have caused him more problems. "I swear I didn't mean to do anything that might have hurt him."

Marron had been the one to originally push for Yang to go out with Jaune. Looking out for his happiness as his twin sister. The blonde was also protective as all Arcs were of their siblings. Jaune even being, 'the goodest of good guys,' as Yang once described him made it all the worse.

It was like stepping on a puppy's foot. It just made your heart hurt.

Her fellow blonde sighed. "I don't think it was you," she stated. Her words brought Yang some relief. "He almost got into a car wreck on the way back here. Nearly hitting a guy who waltzed out onto the road."

"Really," Yang said. A touch of concern in the back of her throat. That rush of relief she had just vanished.

Jaune looked alright when I saw him... The two played a few rounds of Mario Kart with Ruby and Dante before Marron dragged her off upstairs. Had he been injured, it would have shown. Maybe as a joke about Jaune being an idiot or some other form of self-deprecating humour that Yang hated. But she hadn't seen him long enough to get a feel for the boy's condition.

"Yeah," Marron continued. "Whatever happened screwed something up with the axle, and Vi had to take the Viper to the shop." Marron sat up and leaned forward. "But last night, Jaune had another nightmare. Like a really bad one. Woke up screaming bloody murder."

Yang growled in her throat.

 _That idiot..._ They agreed if either one of them needed to talk about stuff they would! Apparently, Jaune wasn't holding up his end of the bargain. Yang could forgive the car, but the nightmares were not something she could. Especially if there was another one that she never learned about.

But that was Jaune. He neglected his own needs to see to someone else's, calling Yang and checking on her from time to time. Yang admitted that was one of the many aspects the two shared. Something she did indeed admire about him was that selflessness. That and the way he brought life to everything everywhere he went. His perseverance too.

Actually, there were a lot of things she liked or admired about him. Oddly, they were two sides of the same coin. Lots of new things Yang was learning as she took the time to hang out with him turned out to add to his character. Subtract the shyness and lack of confidence, and you would have someone who was very attractive. However, it was also kind of cute at times.

"Maybe I should go talk to him," Yang suggested, reaching over to grab her Scroll.

"Sure, knock yourself out," Marron agreed. "He's been pretty tight-lipped about everything lately, and you're the one who got through to him."

That she did. Yang liked being that kind of person. Although her methods were a bit blunt at times, she had helped her other friends out with their problems.

 _Okay, Yang! You got this!_

[Jaune: Ten Minutes Prior]

Jaune leaned forward, concentrating on the screen. Heavily last, as he drifted around a corner. Another red shell coming from the front as they whipped that thing backwards. The turtle shell slammed into Jaune's cart, stopping him in place.

With that, the race ended and Jaune took his L. The boy setting his controller down the coffee table. His companions celebrated with each finishing at the top of the leaderboard.

"Yes," Ruby cheered with a giant smile on her face. The girl's demeanour made her look cute in a way. Like a small puppy when you gave them a treat.

Ruby, Dante, and Jaune had been playing video games for about a half hour at this point. Yang and Marron were taking turns with them, switching out with the loser (mostly Jaune at this point,) and talking trash to each other while joking around. It had been pretty competitive as well up to this point. Lots of yelling as one person neared victory or choked at the last minute.

"I still suck at this game," Jaune half-heartedly groaned.

Ever since this morning, he had been feeling pretty out of it. Jaune tried his best to keep up appearances, which was easy enough given the circumstances of being bad at certain games. He just didn't want his friends to worry about him while they were having fun.

"Don't worry Jaune, practice makes perfect," Dante quipped, setting up a new game.

"Sure, let me just get better." You could taste the sarcasm in his voice.

Jaune turned to the front of the house as the front door opened. Stepping in was his father. The older male had a dishevelled appearance from a long shift, marked by the two-day beard and generally tired look. He pulled off his ACU jacket and cap, setting them on the table.

"Hey, Mr Arc," Ruby called out.

"Sup, Nicholas," Dante followed.

Jaune nodded in his father's direction.

Nicholas Arc. The other head of the Arc family and colonel in the Valish Defence Force. Frankly, he was the man Jaune had the utmost respect for. Nobody came close to the man as a father or being the epitome of a paragon among his soldiers and community.

"Hello," Nicholas replied to each of them. Both Blanche and Rouge came from upstairs and hugged their father. The man returned it before they ran off, then turning to Jaune. "Jaune, I need to borrow you."

"Yep," he obliged, getting up off the couch. Dante and Ruby got to playing another game without him. _I wonder what Dad needs me for?_

He followed the older Arc to an adjacent room, which was another den. A few couches, chairs, TV, and a bar were what stood out the most. However, in the corner of the room stood a large safe. A gun safe to be more specific.

"I'm assuming you've heard about the attacks in the city," Nicholas began, entering in the code of the safe. The key code was something Jaune had already known about, having been forced to memorise it.

The safe soon opened revealing the dozen or so guns inside. Several ARs chambered in 5.56x45mm, .308, 7.62x39mm, 300 Win Mag. A few bolt action rifles in .30 - 6, .308, and .338 Lapua Magnum. Shotguns in 12 gauge and 20 gauge. Finally, a few pistols of various calibres ranging from .45 to 9mm. Then all the ammo and accessories included.

This armoury was the result of Jaune's father being a bit of a gun nut and having grown up out in the country. Suffice to say, Jaune was around guns for most of his life. While it wasn't his cup of tea, he still learned how to use them safely as per his mother's wish. So any gun in this box had been used by him at some point during the many times he was dragged out to a local shooting range.

"Yeah," Jaune replied. "The 'Mincemeat Murders.' I've heard about them."

That story sort of up and died for some reason. Nobody else was reporting on it and details were a bit sparse from the last time Jaune looked at it. Yet he wasn't concerned about them in the sense that he may end up a victim. It was the lack of reporting on a spree killer that concerned him.

"No," he corrected Jaune, pulling out an AR and drawing back the charging handle. "The other ones. People getting attacked out on the street and in broad daylight?"

 _I remember that. The guy on the radio was talking about it before the radio went out. A hundred attacks in less than a week. Those aren't connected to the Mincemeat Murders then..._

"What about them," Jaune asked. Curious to know more, yet apprehensive as to what his father was doing.

"We're not sure of what's going on right now," he explained, pulling the slide off a Beretta. "Some in Command think it's rioting, others have no clue what's going on. But I want to go through here and make sure we're ready in case something like that happens over at the house."

Jaune rubbed the back of his head. "Do we have to," he asked. Sounding reluctant.

He wasn't in the mood to play Castle Doctrine right now. It didn't help that his parents voluntold him to be the protector of the house because he was a good shot. If it came down to it, then he would. But at the moment, Jaune just didn't want to deal with anything important.

Before his father could offer a reply, Jaune's Scroll rang. He quickly pulled out the device showing an image of Saphron and her wife, Terra. The two hugging a young Adrian between them.

"Are you going to take that," Nicholas asked, staring at the Scroll.

"Uhh, Yeah," Jaune answered immediately, heading for the back door.

...

Jaune stepped out onto the back porch, shutting the door behind him. Sitting down on the stairs, he glanced up at the rolling hills and fields before him. A sharp gust blew in, ruffling his hair and the grass at the same time.

 _Here we go..._

He tapped on the call button before pulling the Scroll out into a tablet. This allowed the siblings to converse via video chat. An image of Saphron appeared on the screen while the video had begun to buffer.

The two had not been able to talk for some time. Since last week, before the incident at school. Nobody had been able to reach Saphron or Terra since then actually. Jaune was starting to become concerned about her until now.

Once the video was done buffering, the image of Saphron became quite clear. She was leaning over what looked to be a table. In the background was her living room as evident by the wooden panels and fancy furniture all around.

"Hey, Saph," Jaune began, holding the tablet with both hands. She didn't respond for a few moments. "You hear me?"

The video buffered once again, becoming a stop motion picture. Jaune was prepared to give up on a video chat and just call her like a normal person.

 _Come on..._

"Yeah," she answered. Her voice was slightly garbled. She adjusted herself after finally coming through, sitting up straight. "Sorry. Signal's been pretty bad for the last two weeks."

"Really," Jaune asked with a snort.

"Yep," she said, popping the 'P.' "There was a riot in Argus a few weeks back. A big one too! Few hundred people fighting cops and soldiers in the streets. Terra and I watched the entire thing on TV. But then, someone drove a car into some pretty sensitive communications equipment and broke _everything_!" She gestured with her hands for emphasis. "Terra said it was a cascade failure that wrecked the telecommunications network for half of northwestern Anima. So I couldn't call you guys at all until we got it working." She paused for a moment as the video buffered again. "And I heard about what happened at Beacon. Mom filled me in this morning when I was able to call her. I'm glad to see you're alright. But, I got to ask for myself."

That was Saphron. She practically doted on all of her younger siblings. Jaune especially, since he was her baby brother. It must have been awful for her when she couldn't check up on him or any of her other siblings. They were all really close.

"I'm fine," he said, placating any concerns of her's. "Just some bruises and a few bad dreams. But I'm working through it." He reached up to rub the back of his head, showing his apprehensiveness to talk about this. "Really it was just getting the crap scared out of me when the guy attacked me in the bathroom. Other than losing my uniform, I'm okay. I just got lucky, I suppose." _Really lucky..._

"Well, that's good," she chirped. "You weren't hurt at least. Just try to get better, okay!" The screen buffered again. "Hold on... I might lose you, but I'll try to call again later!"

"Alright," Jaune replied. "Tell Terra and Adrian, I said hi."

Before anything else could be said, the other end of the call disconnected. The screen showed one last image of Saphron before cutting to black. Jaune compacted the tablet back into a phone and stuck it in his pocket. He was going to get up and head back inside when the backdoor opened up behind him.

"So, speaking of bad dreams, when were you going to tell me you were having nightmares," Yang asked from behind him. Her stern tone startled him, causing Jaune to jump.

 _Ughh, her too?!_ Jaune really didn't want to deal with Yang either at the moment. But fate and causality decided to take a shit on his day.

Jaune groaned and let his head fall into his hands. "Did Marron tell you about that," he asked in response. It would be Marron too. Vi has a little more guile than that.

Yang plopped down right next to him. "A lady does not give up her sources," she replied, not giving him anything. But Jaune knew it had to be Marron. "I heard about what happened and decided to come talk to you about it."

Jaune wanted the issue to go away. Not to be brought back up. If his mother learned about it, then he would probably be forced to attend therapy or something. Not that it was a bad thing, of course. Therapy can do wonders for a person. Jaune just didn't want to be carted to something like that unless this became a real issue for him.

"I didn't want to dump everything on you," Jaune said, leaning back on the stairs. "I imagine you're dealing with your own issues, so I wanted to handle it on my own."

Dante and Marron weren't having any problems for the last few weeks. Actually, Jaune and Yang were the only ones to see Cardin. The others had been fortunate enough to never have the image burned into their retinas. So, in all likelihood, Jaune and Yang were going to be the ones experiencing the most stress related to this.

Yang snorted. "You forget that I gave you my number so we could talk about things," she reminded him. "That includes nightmares. Thus, you don't have to pull a Yang and brute force it. And I'm alright if you just want to talk to talk so you can get your mind off things."

"I see..." _So she really doesn't mind._

"But," Yang continued, getting up off the stairs and standing in front of him. "I think this calls for more steam to be blown off! So, we are going to box until one of us wins!"

That sounds painful for both parties. Kind of fun too, since Jaune had never tried boxing before. But...

"Yang," Jaune began, nervously with what he was about to say. "You don't have to go out of your way to help me."

Jaune wasn't sure why he felt that way. Yang had just never shown any interest in him before. He was kind of afraid she was just taking pity on him. Or only doing this because he protected her from Cardin and was trying to pay him back.

"Hmmm," she hummed, pursing her lips. Yang leaned forward and got really close to him. "How about this? I'm doing this for _me_ too. Not just because I want to help you. You catch my drift?"

"I think I get it," he replied, leaning back a bit more to distance himself.

"Good boy," she said, heading back up the stairs. "Then I'll be seeing you on Monday. You're gonna lose so bad, you'll be calling me Sir! But for now, let's go play some games!"

"Sure..." Jaune got up and followed behind her.

* * *

 **There we go. Now I can go and enjoy the last of my summer break before I start working.**

 **But for when Jaune get's to equip his first gun, it will show up as part of his loadout like how I do it in You've Got To Use Silver. Just without the magic or stats. A brief decription of the gun or weapon and what ammo it fires.**


	7. Day 14

**Merry Bristmas everybody!**

 **So, I finally got this big bitch done! It took me the better part of a month to complete, but day fourteen if here ladies!**

 **I was able work on this because my internship ended last week and I already had 5k of the words done for my 15k word goal. It only took another week to complete after that. So two weeks to create the longest chapter I have written up to this point.**

 **For day fourteen ladies, we are getting three perspectives today. Yang, Jaune, and Ren. The latter of the three because I wanted to introduce him and Nora as characters for the story. Blake, Pyrrha, and Weiss will all be arriving in later chapters.**

 **Day fourteen also introduces some weapons into the mix. Now, as a 'Murican from Kansas (Originally from SoCal, and then Germany. Dad was in the Army.) I know my guns. Given how Jaune grew up on a farm (I didn't.) He would know his guns too.**

 **Guns might not really be my thing. But I know them well enough.**

 **One word of warning. I'm not great at writing horror. So, I tried my best to describe the zombie attacks vividly. I don't read a lot of really long stories involving horror either, just a bunch of one shots. They didn't really help either, so I just wrote it in my style. I don't really plan on focusing on horror a lot in this story though. Although it is going to be an element of it.**

 **Another thing, however, the song Next To You from the Parasyte OST is a fucking banger! I'm listening to it on a one-hour loop and it has become the song I want to use in every one of the romantic or emotional scenes in every fic I write. I recommend you check it out.**

 **But for now, I'm going to hand out some honourable ass-whoopings, so I'll see you guys when I finish the next chapter of Monsters Are Just Men Like You and I.**

* * *

[Day 14]

Yang vigorously tossed and turned under her covers. The soft mattress she laid on flexed with every movement. The girl grunted and cursed out of pure frustration with every roll. Occasionally, there would be a tuft of blonde hair that surface from under the sea of blankets like a monster thrusting an arm from the depths.

It was nearly three in the morning, and for some reason, she couldn't go to sleep! No matter what position Yang entered, or even trying little remedies that were supposed to help, she could not sleep. Honestly, it annoyed the fuck out of the blonde!

Yang had been trying to go to bed for the last few hours. She wanted to get some rest, wake up early, get some breakfast, and play some video games. Honestly, the last part was something to pass the time until she had to go out to the gym and meet up with Jaune.

Her getting up early didn't suggest that she was going to spend that time to make herself look pretty. She and Jaune were going to be beating the ever-loving shit out of each other to blow off some more steam. No one needed to wear anything make-up wise for that. That and she really didn't need to paint that stuff on her face. Both Yang and Jaune agreed upon that. The latter himself made that quite clear in his own words.

Yang caught a severe case of butterflies in her stomach when she thought about _those_ words. It was like a knot, slowly constricting itself inside of her. Almost to the point where it was going to snap, or Yang was going to toss her cookies. But that surge of adrenaline felt great in its own way.

"Hugh," Yang groaned loudly, gripping her stomach. The sensitive inner-organs got the worst of it. It was a churning vat of mayhem that wouldn't go away.

Why was she feeling like this?

Marron had recorded and sent a video to her about a month ago. That damned video ended up in her inbox with a text reading, "You've got an admirer," ending with a winky face emoji.

The person in question? None other than Jaune.

She had known he held a candle for her for quite some time now. Yang was sure about her lack of romantic feelings in regards to the boy for the longest time. But that video... It changed everything.

Yang had remembered it quite vividly since the first time she watched it.

 _The camera panned upwards as the person recording it moved Jaune into the frame. He was sitting across from the other bed with his legs crossed. A laptop sat in his lap, accompanied by a mouse next to his right leg._

 _"What do I think about her," Jaune said tensely, rubbing the back of his head. It was clear by the look on his face, the boy was not very comfortable with being asked this question. He looked afraid to answer it. "I'm not sure if I can say it."_

 _"Come on," Marron encouraged from behind the camera. "Just spit it out!"_

 _Jaune let out a long sigh. This question was clearly stressing him out. Yang would have guessed he might clam up and refuse to say anything more. The boy was reluctant to reveal things like this, being an introvert and all._

 _"I think she's the most beautiful person in the world," he began, surprisingly confident. His voice was firm and meaningful. Like he had this on his mind for quite some time now. "Not just because of her looks. Yeah, she's drop-dead gorgeous, but there's more to it than that. She blows supermodels out the water, and she doesn't even need makeup unlike them. But Yang is literally the most amazing person I've ever met! She's just so full of life and wants to bring that excitement to others. Even if they are feeling down, Yang drags them along with her and tries to help them feel better. And when she goes out onto the football field or a pep rally and cheers, Yang just rules! I love watching her cheer. Yang has so much more energy than any of the other cheerleaders. She riles up the crowds with that bright smile of her's and just gets them going. Yang doesn't stop either-even if she's tired. But, what I loved about her most is when she smiles! Yang doesn't just smile with her lips. She smiles with her eyes! They squint ever so slightly, making her look even more angelic. And those eyes, they speak so much more than words can describe! Those bright amethyst coloured irises are the gateway for all of her emotions. When she's truly happy, they just glow!"_

When Yang first watched the video, that sickening tickly feeling in her stomach pretty much gut-punched the girl. She had to set her Scroll down halfway through and cool herself off for a moment. When she finished it, however, a part of her was embarrassed for the boy, and a part of her was frightened.

It felt good knowing someone thought about her in that way. It was a refresher from guys who were wholly fixated on her for her sex appeal. But having it suddenly dropped in her lap was what terrified Yang. The initial cringe of watching the boy spill his heart out when talking about her ended up being overshadowed by Jaune's reaction if he ever found out that video made it into Yang's possession.

However, that video is one of the main reasons why she considered him dateable. If the knowledge that his monologue made it out forced him to grow a pair and ask her out, Yang would have accepted. To try him out at least...

Now, with everything going on, Yang was not sure if that was going to happen. It was a stressful time for Jaune. Not a great moment to really be thinking about dating. However, while she was not infatuated with the boy, Yang may have to take the initiative.

Hell, she might end up falling for tall, blonde, and scraggly.

Yang sat up straight, squinting her eyes as she stared at the wall. The white drywall had a deep blue shade to it in the low light. Same for the rest of the room where it wasn't total darkness.

 _Did I really just think that?_

She had.

It was a possibility with the two hanging out so much. If they didn't become a couple, they might become really good friends. Both were possible as well as the two distancing themselves from each other.

The third option was the worst out of the three. With Jaune the way he is right now, it's possible he might just give up on her completely. Hence the need to possibly take the initiative, which Yang was kind of sort of doing.

Nobody ever said Yang wasn't adventurous.

"I'm not going to sleep," Yang grumbled as she threw off the covers. Crawling over to the edge of the bed, she let her feet touch the hardwood floors. A cold tingle shot through her legs as her toes met the air-conditioned wood.

 _I'm not nervous..._

Yang still wasn't sure why she couldn't sleep. It may have been that she simply couldn't fall asleep tonight. That sort of thing used to be an issue around finals week before winter break came along. But she was in no way feeling nervous about going out with Jaune again.

She pushed off the bed and made her way to the door. _If I'm tired in the morning, I can chug a few energy drinks. That should keep me going!_

 _Wait... do I still have those?_

Yang shook her head as she took the doorknob. Pulling it open revealed an empty hallway. Nobody else seemed to be awake or at the house right now.

She looked to her left. A light was coming out from under Ruby's door. She must have fallen asleep watching a movie. Yang looked right. Her father's bedroom door was cracked open. She could hear the TV inside his room.

 _Huh, Dad's back..._

Yang recently accepted this to be a part of her life now. Her dad's scarce presence at the house and all. She just didn't really care. He had a job to do, and when whatever was going on managed to blow over, Dad could go back to being Dad.

 _Maybe I can play some video games or get an early breakfast in? There's still that takeout Ruby, and I ordered._

As she passed by her father's room, Yang took a peek inside to see if her father was there. He may have just come home and was getting a shower in, so it would be nice to grab something for him too.

"Dad," she called out quietly. No response came from within the room.

Pushing the door open, Yang investigated the room. Some clothes were laid out on the bed, but there was no sign of her dad. The shower wasn't on, but the TV was set to a news broadcast.

A woman was standing in the frame, holding a microphone. Behind her was a group of soldiers with a barricade in front of them. It was too dark to really see anything else, and Yang couldn't hear anything over the chaos taking place behind the woman.

 _What's going on?_

"What we had initially reported as lone attacks in the city have escalated into full-scale rioting across the capital city. These acts of violence seem to be somehow connected to the nationwide pandemic."

 _A pandemic?_

"At the Vale City Medical Centre, there has been an uptick in hospitalisations concerning attacks by other people. Many are being treated for bites, and often severe beatings. Those who were hospitalised are now showing similar symptoms to the flu-outbreak that swept through the city last week."

"We've received reports that those afflicted with the infection are showing signs of severe paranoia and psychosis coupled with extreme aggression. Physical symptoms are similar to meningitis with seizures and a high-"

One of the soldiers shouted something before shoving one of the camera crew members away.

"There seems to be some commotion coming from the street behind-"

The soldiers began shooting at something just outside of the camera frame. Screams could be heard from all around before the footage went to black.

"What the fuck," she cursed out loud. Goosebumps quickly formed all over her body. Yang wasn't afraid, only stunned as to what she saw.

 _I need to find Dad!_

Yang quickly bolted down the stairs and landed in the living room. There was not a soul to be found here. The darkness of the house was broken by a single lamp sitting in the corner.

It was so quiet too. The only sound Yang could hear was her breathing and footsteps.

Wait... There was more.

What sounded like running. It came closer and closer to the front door. Followed by heavy breathing and what seemed like a panicking man.

Her father burst through the door, startling Yang. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

On his arms. There was blood. Lot's of it!

He turned to see Yang staring at him. A panicked expression on his face. His eyes were wide open - pupils dilated to the highest degree.

"Yang," he muttered quietly. "Are you alright?" His voice was louder this time. There was fear mixed with complete and utter terror in it. "Did anybody come in here?!"

"No," she replied, beginning to mimic her father. Yang was scared. After seeing what happened on TV and now her father coming back to the house covered in blood, who wouldn't be? "W-What's going on?!"

"I don't know," he said scaredly, pulling a gun out of his waistband. "I heard screaming from the neighbours! Something's wrong with them!"

Something slammed into the door. It was hard enough to knock a photo off the shelf. Whoever hit the door was snarling like a rabid animal. He slammed into it again, putting more stress on the deadbolt. Blood splattered on the outside of the lite.

Tai backed away from the door, keeping Yang behind him. "C'mere. Stay behind me," he ordered, holding his gun at his side.

Yang was terrified now. Someone was trying to break into their house! She didn't know why that man was chasing her dad. The only thing the girl could do was hide behind her father as he shielded her.

One last charge into the door broke the frame. Wood splintered everywhere as the lock failed. The man who was trying to get in stumbled forward.

Yang got a clear look at his face.

It was deathly pale. There was no colour to be found on his skin. Blood coming from deep cuts on his face flowed freely, dripping down onto his shirt and the floor. Dark veins crisscrossed his face, showing due to the pale tone of his skin.

His lips were curled backwards, exposing his teeth. Saliva poured freely from his mouth as did some blood. More and more spilt out with his rapid breaths.

He looked left and then right before training his eyes on the two blondes. A growl came from deep within his throat. It sounded more like an animal's than a man.

"Jacob," Tai shouted to the man. "Stay back, I'm warning you!" He pointed the gun at the man's head.

Jacob didn't heed his command and charged at Tai, letting out a loud rabid squeal as he did so. He only made it two steps before Tai shot him in the face.

The bullet passed through his skull and exited out the other side. The exit wound resulting from the gunshot splattered blood and grey matter all over the floor and door frame. As his corpse fell to the floor, his body let out all of the remaining air in its lungs in a single wheeze.

Yang stood there as she watched his lifeless corpse fall to the floor. The girl had never seen anything like this so close. It wasn't like the movies where the body dramatically falls to the floor. That man just collapsed as if someone dropped him.

She wanted to throw up or break down crying. Hot tears began streaming down her face. Yang felt so disgusted, so afraid of what was happening right now.

"What was that," Ruby screamed from upstairs. There was a present tone of fear in her voice. "I heard a gunshot!"

"Ruby, you stay up there," Tai shouted in the direction of the stair. "You stay up there! Don't come downstairs!"

Tai turned to face his daughter, getting down on his knees. "Yang," he softly called out to the girl, grabbing her arms. She flinched at his touch before calming momentarily.

"Y-You shot him," Yang cried out. She stared at the corpse lying a few feet away from them. "You killed him!"

"That wasn't Jacob anymore," Tai explained firmly. "But what I need you and Ruby to do is go upstairs! I need you both to pack a bag full of clothes! You need to grab your phones, wallets, and laptops! And you two need to leave the city! We'll take Qrow's car!"

Yang couldn't focus on what he had said. She couldn't stop staring at the door where Jacob had barged through. He was going to attack them both. But her father killed him!

"Yang," Tai shouted, shaking her. That focused her attention back to her father. "Did you hear me?" This time he asked in a calmer tone.

"Y-Yes..." She shook her head. "But what about you?!"

"Don't worry," he replied gently. "Qrow and I will take you two to Nicholas' house, but we can't stay there. The army is going to need us!"

Those words scared Yang more than anything she had ever experienced. She didn't want her father to leave her just like her own mother did. Like Summer, when she said that she would come back after her deployment only to come back inside of a coffin.

"WHAT," she shouted in reply. Yang's eyes flared up into two bright red orbs. "No! You can't stay here!"

Tai clenched his hands down on Yang's upper arms. "No, you listen to me," he growled angrily. "The whole city is in panic mode right now! The army is going to be mobilising soon to try contain-"

A series of fast-paced footsteps approached the door. The clicks of their shoes meant they were sprinting.

Tai turned back to the front entrance with his weapon in hand. Yang stood behind him once again waiting for whoever was going to come into view. She could feel her heart pounding out of her chest.

A tall - lean figure entered the frame. He was dressed in a loose-fitting flannel with dark jeans. A pistol rested in his right hand. His black hair swayed in the light wind. The sight of the body only prompted him to step into the dim light.

It was Qrow.

"Holy shit, Tai," he cursed at seeing the body and his in-law. "You alright?! You got blood on you!"

Qrow wore a concerned look on his face as did Tai. Although Yang knew her uncle was not one to scare easily, he must have seen something that truly terrified him.

"Yeah, it ain't mine," he replied immediately.

"Do you know what the fuck this thing is," he harshly whispered to his in-law. "They're saying it's some sort of parasite or a virus! Higher-ups told us fuck-all about this!"

 _What?!_

"What do you mean," Yang asked in confusion. She was terrified at the thought of catching whatever disease this was. Especially if it could turn you into _that_!

Tai turned to Yang again. "We don't know what this is," he explained. "Whatever it is. They're saying it spread all over the country!"

"Yeah, it's bad all over the place out there," Qrow added on, shutting the front door behind him and leaning against it. "But you need to get out of here, Kiddo. You and Ruby can't stay."

"O-Ok..." She turned and headed up the stairs.

Yang needed to see to Ruby first. She needed to get at least some sort of half-assed explanation as to what happened. The rest could come when they got out of the city.

"Ruby," Yang harshly whispered.

The only response came from Zwei. The small corgi shuffled out from another room and sat in front of Ruby's door. Yang's younger sister had vanished, but Zwei told her everything she needed to know.

Ruby was hiding in her room.

"Ruby," Yang whispered, but louder this time. "Open the door..." She tried the knob only to find that it was locked. A muffled cry came from the other side. "Come on, Rubes... This ain't the time for this!"

Yang put her shoulder into the door, breaking the lock and subsequently, the door at the same time. She turned left to find Ruby sitting only a few feet away.

She was curled up into a ball, wrapping her arms around her legs and pulling them up to her chest. Tears were streaming down her face, shining in the faint moonlight. Quick - shallow breaths left her mouth in short bursts.

Ruby was having a panic attack.

"Rubes," Yang called out calmly, kneeling down in front of her. She grabbed her shoulder with one hand and placed another at the side of her head, tilting it upwards. "Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey. It's me. It's me."

That calmed her down a little bit. Ruby's breathing returned to normal.

"Yang, w-what happened," Ruby asked with terror in her voice.

"You don't need to know," Yang replied calmly, holding back her emotions. "Just know that something happened, and we need to pack our bags! _Now_!"

...

Yang grabbed her bags and dropped them at the bottom of the stairs. Both she and Ruby threw whatever they could grab into duffle bags and did it as fast as possible. They had enough clothes to last, maybe a week or two. Neither bothered to grab anything else, but their personal electronics and wallets.

Tai and Qrow were waiting down at the bottom of the stairs for them. They were in the middle of a conversation but ended it when the girls came down. Both men stared at them with concerned yet solemn faces.

The body had been dragged away and into the kitchen. It was out of sight where Ruby would not have been forced to see what happened. That was only reinforced with Qrow and Tai approaching them and guiding both girls out to the garage.

Qrow grabbed their bags and tossed them into the Mustang sitting in the garage. Ruby and Yang stood around as their father paced back and forth anxiously. Nobody said anything, only Qrow and Tai exchanging looks.

A group of passing police cars drew their attention outside. The red and blue lights were merely a blur as the cops hightailed it to their destination. Ruby flinched at the sirens screaming out into the night. Yang placed a hand on her shoulder and held her close for some sort of reassurance.

"Both of you get in the back," Tai ordered, opening the driver side door.

Yang and Ruby shuffled into the back of the vehicle. The former sat right behind her father while Ruby sat behind Qrow. The air inside the car remained heavy as the garage door opened up behind them. Nobody dared to say a word.

Qrow turned around to face the girls. "You two alright," he asked calmly yet gruffly, breaking the silence. "How you holding up?"

"I'm fine," Yang lied.

In truth, she was scared shitless. Her neighbour was acting just like Cardin and that guy who was out on the street last week. How was someone supposed to, 'hold up,' when people were going nuts and attacking each other. Especially when those incidents are connected by some disease.

"A-A little scared," Ruby answered honestly. "Can you tell us what's happening?!"

It was right that the girl was confused. She only had pieces of information at her disposal. Yang had a bit more on hand, but she was still firmly in the dark.

"Later," Tai avoided the question. "Let's just focus on getting out of here."

He put the car into reverse and backed out of the driveway. It was dark outside. So very dark. The only lights on were the streetlamps and some coming through the windows of the adjacent houses.

"Can we hear what's on the radio," Ruby spoke up again, holding Zwei tight in her arms. She may have been hoping for some form of encouragement from the broadcast, or something to distract her mind from what was going on.

"Yeah," Tai said, trying the device.

The radio switched on. Nothing came out for a moment as it warmed up. After it did, there was only white noise. It was a jumble of garbled hissing and the occasional word that managed to get through.

"Shit," Qrow cursed, pulling out his phone. "We've got no radio or phones!" He threw his Scroll down by his feet. "How the hell did we lose them already?! We're right next to the goddamned city!"

The Mustang went from reverse to first gear. Outside the vehicle, there were a handful of people trying their best to pack their things into cars. Some were even on foot, carrying their bags as they did so.

What struck Yang the most was the fact there were children out there. A part of her wanted to tell her father and Qrow to stop the vehicle, but there was no room. All she could do was stare out the window and watch these people as they passed by.

"A minute ago, we were hearing about half of the people in the city losing their goddamned minds," Qrow continued, angrily spitting out his words. "And now, nothing!"

"Can the military do something about it," Ruby spoke up.

It was a good question. Yang and Ruby's father and uncle were in the military. They would know if something could be done.

Qrow turned around to face both of them. "Maybe, if this hasn't spread too far," he explained.

"We were only told about a flu outbreak, girls," Tai added on firmly. "A-And rioting! People were attacking each other out on the streets! We were only going to deploy to control that!"

 _Then Dad's reaction to me telling him about that guy on the street... He didn't know any more than it was just some crazy guy._ That knowledge didn't comfort Yang in the least.

Qrow held his position, looking back at the girls. "But you two should be alright at Nicholas' farm," he placated their concerns. "They're saying it only spread to big cities and towns. It's far enough away from here that you should be able to avoid this."

"But what if we're sick," Ruby asked in a concerned tone.

"No-No-No," Qrow countered. "You haven't-"

 _ **"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**_

A screaming person ran out from the side of the road and threw themselves into the Mustang! It shattered the passenger window causing it to spider web. Blood splattered all over the place, coating half of the passenger door in a thick layer of the gore.

Tai swerved away from the attacker, nearly hitting a parked car as he did so. Ruby let out a shriek as she cowered from the attack. Yang shielded her younger sister from the flakes of glass flying about. Zwei started barking at the person, getting out of Ruby's grip as he did so.

Qrow looked up after having covered his head with his arms. "Holy shit," he cursed, looking out the back window. "Tai, you better drive."

Yang let go of Ruby, turning her head to see what Qrow was looking at.

Dozens of Infected were racing out from the nearby buildings straight for those who were fleeing the city. Everyone dropped what they had in their hands and ran. Many went down and were mauled by the Infected. Yang watched as they tore apart children with their bare hands and began to eat their bodies.

Yang couldn't take her eyes off what she was seeing. Even from a hundred feet away, she could see the blood. A woman was screaming as she was being dragged away by another man. In front of her was a child in the clutches of an Infected.

The sheer agony and terror gripping the woman as she disregarded her own safety to save someone who was already dead burned a vivid image into Yang's retinas.

 _Oh my god..._ Yang cupped a hand over her mouth. She had no words for this. How could anybody?

Watching people tear other people apart was something nobody could ever be prepared to witness. Those Infected were like lions or wolves ripping apart a deer or gazelle! They weren't people anymore. They were only monsters, without a shred of humanity left in them!

Yang turned around and sat back down in her seat. Her breathing grew quicker and heavier as she tried to calm herself down. She looked to her side to see Ruby clutching Zwei, muttering to herself while the dog sat there.

 _Calm down, Yang... We can't freak out right now! Just need to keep it together until we get to Jaune's!_

"Tai, take King Avenue through um..." Qrow spoke up before losing his thought, snapping his middle finger and thumb as he did so.

"Twenty-Four," Tai finished the idea.

"Yeah, Twenty-Four," Qrow agreed. "That should take us to Nicholas' farm."

Yang looked out the window and realised where they were. They managed to get out of the suburbs and into the main town. It wasn't the big city just yet - more like a small industrial district on the outskirts of the metropolis.

They crossed over a small bridge standing above a creek. In front of them was another hill before they would reach the road leading to the highway. Nobody else was on this specific road, but Yang could see the lights from the buildings up ahead.

Cresting the hill, finally, Yang could see what was going on here.

Hundreds of cars and people were blocking the road ahead of them. All refugees heading out of the city through the interstates and freeways. The sheer volume of those who were fleeing happened to be nothing less than astonishing.

Everyone who was attempting to leave through Vale's arteries rendered them choke points that only a few could move past at a time. The immense level of traffic extended for miles and beyond Yang's vision. Many of her predecessors were beginning to abandon their vehicles in favour of moving on foot.

"There are so many people," Ruby muttered tensely. "How are we going to get out of here..."

 _Good question..._

"I don't know, Kiddo," Qrow answered her, dryly, turning to Tai next. "We should double back and try to find a way around!"

Before they were able to do so, a man exited his vehicle to shout at the passersby in front of him. He gestured with his right hand, cursing at the man. Several other refugees turned to face the noise, startled, as all were on edge.

Another scream came from the side of the road. An Infected dressed in a loose-fitting hospital gown charged at the shouting man, pouncing on him with no remorse or care about the human beneath.

Bloodied hands became drenched in an even thicker coat of blood as the Infected tore into the man. Yang could see the inside of the now-dead human laying on the ground. His intestines were promptly torn from inside his body and cast about the asphalt. Spurts of arterial blood spurted outwards, landing on the side of the car.

Yang almost gagged as her eyes couldn't take themselves off this sight.

Tai threw the vehicle in reverse, peeling out of the traffic jam as quickly as humanly possible. The Mustang jerked to the left, throwing the girls to the right before suddenly stopping followed by a shift to first, second, and finally third gear.

"Goddammit-goddammit-goddammit-goddammit," Tai cursed repeatedly. "Yang!" Tai looked back at her. "Call Marron and let her know what's going on!"

Yang's mind blanked out entirely. Her eyes focused on the space beneath the seat in front of her. She was too busy comprehending everything she had seen. Further thought to caused her heart to start racing, deafening any outside noise to a low whisper.

This was all becoming too much for her to handle.

"YANG!"

The anger filled shouting from Qrow brought Yang back to reality.

"This isn't the time for that shit! You need to focus," he continued hastily. "Call Marron or Jaune. Hell anybody that you can get! They need to know we're coming in!"

 _Yeah..._ She looked down at her Scroll. Qrow said that the signal was terrible when they left the house. All Yang could do was try and see if someone would pick up, or if the call would even go through.

She pressed, 'Marron,' on her contacts.

The Scroll's dial tone played for a few moments.

 _*Click*_

" _*Yawn...*_ Yang," Marron mumbled sleepily. "What's going on... It's... three-thirty in the morning..."

Marron's voice sounded fuzzy - almost static-like, but clear enough to hear. Yang didn't know if the connection would hold or if the call would be dropped. She had to tell Marron about what happened.

"Marron," Yang began, hesitantly yet firmly. "I need you to listen to me! Something happened at my house... all over the city too. People are _fucking_ killing each other!"

Yang expected a response, but all she got was silence. Looking down at her Scroll, there was still two-bar signal meaning that she hadn't lost it yet. The call hadn't dropped either.

"Yang," Marron said tiredly. "Is this a... joke?"

"No," she shouted into the Scroll, cutting off Marron. Her blood now beginning to boil over in anger. "Turn on the TV - anything! You'll see what's going on! We're heading to your house right now!"

"Yeah, give me a sec," Marron said. This time more alert and ready to believe what was going on.

Yang looked up from her phone to see where they were at. It was another street, looking like an old retail street. Brick buildings lined the side of the road with many abandoned cars sitting on either side.

As they passed through this area. Yang could see smoke billowing out from the rooftops down the road. Thick black clouds blotted out the sky all around them. There were even flames shooting up from the cluster of buildings.

The flames were spreading, and they were moving fast. A hundred feet away, a massive explosion jettisoned brick and chunks of building outwards. The people running down the street were either knocked down or completely disintegrated by the fireball.

"Tai, turn here," Qrow shouted, covering his eyes to shield them from the bright flames.

Turning onto another street, this time, the group was met with hundreds of people running in the same direction. Many didn't seem to care for a destination. They were trying to put some distance between them and the city as soon as possible.

 _Holy Shit!_

Looking further down the street, Yang could see what they were running from. There were dozens if not hundreds of Infected chasing those were running. Anybody who was too slow or was knocked down quickly fell to an Infected.

"Come on people move out of the way," Tai mumbled, hitting the brakes on the vehicle. His hands turned white as he clenched the steering wheel.

"Tai, we can't stop here," Qrow warned, looking over the steering wheel and down the street.

"I CAN'T FUCKING DRIVE THROUGH THEM, Qrow," Tai shouted back at him.

"BACK UP THEN!"

"I CAN'T!"

A break in the crowd opened up. It was enough for the Mustang to get through it.

"Hold ON!"

Tai punched the gas again. The car rocketed forward through the gap, swerving as the driver attempted to avoid hitting anything. Tires burning rubber from the sudden acceleration. He narrowly missed a parked vehicle, finally making it to a clear street. Behind them, a half dozen Infected followed the sound of the engine.

 _We're safe now..._

Yang breathed a sigh of relief as they made it to a road seemingly absent of chaos. They only needed to follow it and make their way to Jaune and Marron's. It was only a few miles away from the edge of Vale before entering the countryside.

Yang looked back down to her Scroll. The device was left unattended to while she was too busy focusing on what was going on. Marron must have been worried sick.

She raised the Scroll to her ear. "Marron," Yang spoke up, hoping to hear a response from her friend, or someone else at least.

Some shuffling sounds were coming from the other side of the call. It sounded like Marron was trying to wake Jaune up or one of her sisters.

"OH SHIT!"

A blinding light from her flank drew Yang's attention to her left. All she could see was two headlights and the silhouette of a truck fast approaching. It wasn't stopping either.

Yang felt everything slow down.

The car slammed into the side of the Mustang. Yang felt the full force of the impact as her Scroll was torn clear from her hand, and she was rocked around by the crash. All she could see now was a flurry of glass being thrown around while the car spun several times.

Yang felt a searing pain emanate from her waist and chest as the seatbelt clamped down tight. All the air left her lungs, and every drop of blood moved with the vehicle, making her light-headed. She hit her head hard on the interior trim, dazing her even further.

The Mustang found its resting place, slamming into a street lamp. The impact wracked the occupants even further. Each let out a muffled groan or whimper while the car finally stopped moving.

Yang opened her eyes slowly, trying to get a feel for her surroundings again. Her ears were both ringing badly as well as her vision blurred. A hand checked her face for any wounds, finding none except for a bruise on her forehead.

She calmed her breathing quickly, then unclasped her seatbelt. The front of the car was not smoking yet, but if there was a fire, Yang needed to get out. Not that she could until some footing was regained.

Glancing over, Yang saw that Ruby was in the same condition that she was in. The girl didn't seem to be entirely lucid just yet. Zwei was alright too. Somehow Ruby managed to hold onto him, which she was thankful for.

"Yang?!"

She looked up to see Qrow staring back at her. He had a bad cut on his head but looked alright. As fine as anybody could be in an accident.

"I'm fine," she said, waving at Qrow. Yang turned to Ruby to check on her condition.

"Rubes," she called out to her little sister. "Can you hear me?!"

The girl nodded slightly.

 _Thank God..._

Yang unbuckled Ruby, helping Zwei out of the car first. Then she grabbed her younger sister and hoisted her into Qrow's arms. The older man let the younger girl use him as a crutch. Finally, Yang pulled herself out of the vehicle.

Yang shook out the last of her daziness. She looked around at the car wreck surrounding them. The other driver had been killed, thrown through their front window. Glass and blood lay all over the street.

 _We got lucky..._

They were indeed fortunate that the car wreck hadn't killed or severally injured. She couldn't say the same for the driver of the other car.

"Uhh, we need to run," Tai demanded, starting to move backwards. He pulled his gun out from his waistband as he did so.

Yang turned in the direction her father was looking.

 _Fuck!_

There was almost a half dozen Infected sprinting towards them. Each snarling and snapping their jaws while they trained their attention on the four and anybody else running down the street.

"Leave the shit in the car!"

Yang took off first followed by Qrow and Ruby. Tai held back to keep the Infected off them. Zwei kept right on her heels, running as fast as he could.

More and more Infected began pouring out onto the street with the ever-increasing amount of people fleeing them.

A man running with right next to the group got tackled by an Infected. The monster tore through his clothing, beginning to devour him on the spot.

 _Oh shit! Oh shit. Oh FUCK!_

She kept running, making sure her family kept up with her. Yang could feel Qrow running right behind her, carrying Ruby in his arms. She could hear Tai's heavy breath way in the back.

Yang side-stepped an Infected who rushed out from a store. Ruby shrieked as it went after them. A gunshot rang out from Tai's Glock, stopping that Infected in its tracks.

The farther they went, more and more obstacles and debris began piling up. Burning cars sat on either side of the road in droves. A police barricade standing at the end of the street was abandoned entirely. Buildings were falling to a raging inferno sweeping through the district.

Everyone kept running, however, dodging whatever Infected came running out from inside the buildings. They didn't care what happened to anybody else. Yang only wanted to get out of the city with her family.

Suddenly a swarm of Infected entered the area on the far end of the street. Those who were there at the moment quickly fell to the swarm. Anybody who was farther away turned back and began running in the opposite direction.

Yang skidded to a stop. She looked around for an escape. Anywhere they could use to get off the street. Glancing to her left, she found it.

An alleyway leading towards the edge of the city. They could cut through there and make it to safety. Maybe find a car or hoof it to Jaune's house. It would put something solid between them and the Infected.

"Dad, Uncle Qrow, through here," she shouted, getting their attention.

Both men looked at each other only for a moment. There was no alternative because they couldn't stay on the streets anymore. It was either this or getting killed.

Yang unlatched the gate leading into the alley. Once Qrow and Ruby got through, she closed it behind her dad. Several Infected got caught on the fence and found themselves unable to get past the simple chain-link.

Taking a few steps back, she turned fully, bolting to the front of the group. She passed right by Qrow and entered an area that opened up from the tight passageway.

A man was kneeled down in the middle of the space. A corpse lay at his feet. He turned suddenly to face Yang.

It was an Infected.

He lept towards Yang. She let out a scream as he reached out to her. The girl used all of her strength to hold him back, jamming her arm under his jaw and into his throat. The other hand kept the Infected from grabbing onto her.

His snapping maw kept pushing forward, inching ever closer to her neck. She could smell his breath from this distance. The metallic scent of blood on it.

Tai pushed Yang away, grabbing the Infected by the abdomen and throwing him backwards. He stuck his Glock in the space between the Infected's jaw and neck, pulling the trigger once in place.

The gunshot was incredibly loud this close to her. Yang's ears began ringing from the sudden crack of the discharge. But she wasn't concerned about that. The gunshot threw blood all over the place, covering her in some of it too.

With the amount of adrenaline coursing through her veins, she couldn't care less. Yang shook her head and began pushing onwards. She needed to get out of the city.

She took off, running behind her father now. He ran forward to get in the front of the group so he could protect Qrow and Ruby. Any Infected could be dealt with by the guy holding the gun now.

Passing by another fenced off area, more Infected were coming out of the woodwork. The gunshot must have drawn them here. Luckily, they weren't on the main street any longer than they had to be. Even better, there weren't hundreds of Infected chasing her.

However, these Infected started climbing over the fence that had been separating them once before. Yang's breath hitched as she saw them clambering towards the top.

"QROW THROUGH HERE," Tai shouted at the top of his lungs, opening a doorway for him.

Yang managed to get inside just as the first Infected reach the top and vaulted over it. She heard three land and begin climbing to their feet.

Tai slammed the door and pushed himself against it. All of the Infected rushed at the hatch simultaneously, causing Tai to nearly lose his footing. Qrow dropped Ruby to help keep the door shut and the Infected away from the girls.

It looked to be a losing battle. The Infected were relentless with every push and claw at the hardwood. Qrow and Tai could barely keep the door shut, and neither of them could leave, or it would be thrown open, allowing the Infected to gain ground.

Tai leaned against the wooden door, turning to look at his daughters. "Yang, Ruby," he called out their names. "You need to run! Get out of here! Qrow and I will follow you two!"

Yang couldn't find the right words. She was being told to abandon her father and uncle. How could she come up with something to say back to him?

 _No..._

She grabbed Ruby's right hand and headed for the door. Yang was going to make sure Ruby got out of there safely. It hurt her to do this, but there was no point in arguing over it.

No drama or cheesy last words.

[Jaune: Ten Minutes Prior]

"JAUNE!"

A shout woke him from a deep sleep. His eyes opened to find the lights were on. A sudden barrage of sounds came from all sides of his house.

He quickly sat up, finding Marron standing next to his bed. Her Scroll was in hand, yet her face was what concerned him. His sister looked terrified beyond belief.

"W-What's going on," he replied in a panic, turning towards Marron and grabbing her hands.

"You have to see this," she begged, pulling him away from the bed.

Out through the bedroom door and into the hallway, Marron dragged Jaune down the stairs. He saw his older sister standing at the bottom of the ascent, looking back up towards them. Jaune had no clue what happened, but it couldn't have been good.

In the living room, the TV was on and playing a news broadcast.

It was the VNN. Lisa Lavender was sitting in the centre of the screen. A stack of papers was sitting in front of her, along with a drink. However, the woman herself was not looking great. She wore a grim expression conveying a dark mood, only barely being able to hold her emotions back.

"This is Lisa Lavender with the VNN," she began nervously, clearing her throat. "As early as one hour ago, widespread panic took hold in most of Vale. We have lost contact with our affiliate stations and any remote news crews on the scene. The VNN will continue broadcasting from our headquarters to update the rest of you."

 _What the hell..._ A shiver ran down Jaune's spine.

"The government has begun to consider measures against the outbreaks in Vale. Currently, the police departments within the capitol are fighting to maintain control of the city. With the widespread chaos taking place, it has been evidently difficult for authorities to maintain their ground. As initial footage from our onsite crews showed police officers using live rounds against these 'Infected.'"

"However, there has been no statements from the government as to the cause of this pandemic. Before we lost our remote, we considered this is connected with the supposed 'flu-outbreak' that began last week. Since then, hospitals around the nation had an almost three-hundred per cent increase in admissions. We believe that this surge of admissions was caused by this, 'Infection.'"

Somebody off-screen passed a paper to Lisa.

"Uh, w-we've just received footage from our news helicopters filming the scene onsite. We're putting the initial broadcast up right now."

A small box appeared in the top left corner of the screen.

It was Vale.

Large portions of the city were on fire. Explosions erupted into view every few seconds. Smoke, easily visible even in the early hours of the morning, arose from the streets.

People and cars were visible from the helicopter. Many were running away from the city with swarms of Infected right on their tails. Uncensored images of corpses lining the streets. Many were being eaten by Infected that had recently killed them.

"My God," Lisa exclaimed. Her voice began to break. She managed to hold her composure so she could continue. "T-This unprecedented biological phenomena has caused those infected with it to suddenly turn violent against anybody around them. As you can see here, this is - this is footage from less than five minutes ago. There seem to be bodies lining the streets - victims of the outbreak." She took a deep breath in. "For those of you still watching this. We urge you to remain indoors and to not venture outside unless absolutely necessary. And whatever you do, please stay safe."

Jaune turned away from the TV to face his sisters. Both stared at the screen just as he did a moment prior. Neither looked to be able to tear themselves away from the image before them. They each wore a stunned look on their face that bordered one of terror or complete disbelief.

"Marron," he spoke up softly. "Have you tried calling Mom or Dad?"

Neither of his parents came home last night. Something about being stuck at work again, but with some sort of outbreak going on. Jaune needed to know if they were on their way back to the house or somewhere safe from the chaos.

Jaune himself could barely believe what was going on even with seeing a live broadcast of it. Vale looked like a warzone. Like someone bombarded the city with artillery and missiles. It was an image one would see after an army razed the enemy capitol, declaring victory.

"N-No," Marron answered him hesitantly. "Yang called me and woke me up. She told me to turn the TV on, and that's when I got you and Vi."

 _Yang..._

Jaune's blood froze at that moment.

She and Ruby lived in the city. They were a stone's throw away from the death and chaos taking place there. Forty miles away from where Jaune was standing right now. They were in the midst of an outbreak causing people to kill each other.

Jaune couldn't even begin to understand what made people do this to each other. He saw other human beings literally devouring corpses. How the hell was he supposed to understand that!

 _Is this what happened to Cardin?!_

It had to be! There were too many coincidences for it not to be. Whatever happened to Cardin happened to all those people in Vale. All those people suddenly turning ravenous and killing each other!

All Jaune had to go off of was that it was an outbreak. But of what kind?! Airborne, waterborne, physical transmission? What if he had it?

Jaune was pretty fucking close to Cardin when he turned. It was a possibility, but he hadn't felt anything out of the ordinary in the last two weeks.

 _I can't focus on any of that right now! Just work with what's in front of you Jaune!_

"Marron, is Yang still on her Scroll," he asked in an urgent tone, nearly demanding it.

"No, let me try calling her again," Marron said, looking through her contacts. A small tap from her finger meant she found it.

Jaune could hear the dial tone play for a moment.

She put the Scroll up to her ear. Marron's eyes cast towards the floor and shut. A soft shaking of her head followed.

"The call won't even go through..."

Jaune clenched his fist tightly in anger. He didn't even know if one of his friends made it out of the city. He didn't even know if his parents were alright. They would have called him or one of his sisters.

"What do we do," Vi spoke up. Her tone sounded confident - firm even.

What did they need to do?

They needed to check on their parents. That was the first thing they had to do. Jaune's sisters were far enough away from Vale that they might not be affected by this right now. They were next on the list.

"Marron, Vi," he began quickly, gesturing with his left hand. "Try calling everyone. Mom, Dad, Saphron, Rose, Noire, anybody! See if they're alright! I-I'm going to check the safe."

Jaune left the living room for the adjacent den. Flicking on the lights revealed the gun safe sequestered in the far corner. The hollowed-out mass of steel and concrete stared right back at him. It was almost intimidating knowing what he was going to have to do here.

 _Let's get this over with..._

Typing in the keycode unlocked the safe promptly afterwards. A slight clank came from behind the hatch as the door bars slid out of place. Finally, Jaune turned the door handle, unlatching the final lock components.

Pulling the safe open, Jaune was met with the LED lights within the armoire. The guns were still all in place since the last time he had seen them. Some of the ammo was stored here, but the rest was tucked away in the basement in around a dozen ammunition dry bins.

Given how bad it was in the city, people were fleeing in droves. Most of those people would be trying to get away from the danger. They could easily end up heading to the countryside, or anywhere the military told them to go. The former of which was what got Jaune concerned.

If he imagined this situation to be like any natural disaster such as an earthquake or a typhoon, these refugees would be desperate. Most or if not, all of them would have lost everything.

While looting was something on Jaune's mind, it did not take the forefront of thought. They were in the early stages of your typical natural disaster. Any looting would come after people's own supplies ran out. Jaune was more concerned about the Infected than anything else.

He had a first-hand encounter with what he suspected to be one of these, 'Infected.' Jaune was not going to be willing to take a chance again without some kind of gun or weapon on his side. Even his sisters or parents did not know what it was like to be so close to someone that was infected. It gave him all the more reason to raid the gun safe.

At least he had a warning and could prepare for something to happen. Luckily, whatever this was had yet to reach them.

Grabbing several guns from within the safe, Jaune set them down on a nearby coffee table.

The first was an AR-15 chambered in 5.56x45mm. The second was an 870 express in 12 gauge. Finally, an M9 Barretta in 9mm.

 **AR-15**

 **Calibre: 5.56x45mm**

 **Barrel Length: 18 inches with quad rail over the handguard**

 **Sight: 4x ACOG & Iron Sights**

 **The typical style of an AR-15 coloured in black matte.**

 **870 Express**

 **Calibre: 12 Gauge**

 **Barrel Length: 24 inches**

 **12 gauge shotgun in black matte with extendable stock.**

 **M9 Barreta**

 **Calibre: 9mm**

 **Sights: Tritium glow sights**

 **Army surplus handgun coloured in black matte with rubber furnishing on the handgrip.**

Marron walked in as Jaune finally laid out the last of the guns. She stood there silently for several moments as he sat in the couch. Taking hold of the AR, Jaune finally looked up at her.

"Anything," he asked hopefully.

Maybe they would have gotten their parents to answer their calls. If not them, then their sisters with Saphron being the exception with the failure of the telecommunications network on Anima. They would keep trying to call them regardless of not getting an answer.

"No," Marron answered promptly, shaking her head. "Vi's scroll can't get a signal anymore. I'm even one-barring!" She cupped a hand over her mouth, wiping it off right after. "But you need to see this!"

"Something else happened," Jaune asked in response, getting off the couch.

"Maybe," she began, heading back to the living room. "I don't know, but this is from the VBC. They're saying it's not just in Vale!"

Vi turned up the TV to play a news broadcast from around ten minutes ago. Jaune could already see as it rewound that things were not just bad in Vale itself.

"Local governments across the Nation have reported incidents of this, 'Killing Plague,'" the news anchor began, staring directly at the screen. "Officials in Mountain Glenn have ordered a complete evacuation of the city with over five thousand people succumbing to the disaster. Exact numbers of these Infected are unknown as of yet but are estimated to be in the thousands just in Mountain Glenn and the surrounding counties. The city of Blacklight has reported a complete collapse of civil order with officials beginning to retreat to safe locations outside the city."

Jaune's got the chills hearing about Blacklight. His older sister, Noire, had an apartment in the city. She and her boyfriend both lived and worked there as writers.

"Members of the Council have urged all civilians in major population centres to evacuate and head to their nearest government relief site. Head Councilman Ozpin has ordered all high-ranking members of the Valish Defense Force to withdraw to local military bases. As of right now, there are discussions as to how the army is going to be deployed to contain this chaos and restore order."

"The RVCDC is currently working on finding the origins of this outbreak. In a press release, chief epidemiologist, Dr Arthur Watts, encouraged all citizens and residents of Vale to avoid any infected individuals and to keep safe."

The broadcast ended there.

"Holy shit," Vi uttered sharply, turning to Marron and Vi. "I can't believe this..."

Jaune could barely believe this either, but he had an up-close encounter with an Infected a few days before the shit hit the fan. Then there was that guy he nearly hit earlier this week. What if he was infected too.

"Me too," Marron agreed with the other two. "How did this happen so quickly?"

There was no way to honestly know. They had no idea what this thing even was. Whether or not it was viral or bacterial or something else altogether. There were too many variables.

"I don't know," Jaune replied, sitting down on the couch. "Maybe it-it got to a point where there was just so many of them. I mean... Marron, you saw what Cardin was like right? This thing must have been going around for a while now!"

"It boiled over finally..." Marron wasn't too sure about her reply. Suddenly her expression changed, turning panicked and worried. "Oh, God... The broadcast said it was connected to the flu-outbreak!" Marron cupped her hands over her mouth, starting to tear up. "Mom works at the hospital, where they were treating those people... She talked about it a few days ago!"

Vi immediately wrapped her arms around her younger sister in a reassuring hug. The older Arc rocked her back and forth, spinning slowly as she did so. A single troubled glance to Jaune expressed her thoughts about it.

"W-We don't know that yet," Jaune tried to placate her concerns. "Maybe, she got out of there! Or the military and cops have it under control. Hospitals are a priority to protect, right?"

 _Bullshit..._

Unless he saw his mom waltzing through the front door right now, then there was no way to know for sure. They couldn't call her and if what was happening out on the streets was happening inside hospitals too...

 _*Thud**Thud*Thud*_

A series of loud knocks came from the front door. These weren't soft knocks that someone would make if they were visiting. They were loud. These were made by someone slamming their fist onto the door. Someone desperately trying to get another to answer them.

All three of the teens turned towards the front as the solid mass of oak shuddered. The bangs reverberated through the walls, shaking anything that hung from them. A small wooden decoration fell to the floor, causing Vi to jump.

Jaune slowly approached the door, keeping his left side facing the hatch. He expected something to just burst through the door like a creature from a monster movie. Which didn't do anything to help his nerves any more when they were already over-clocked.

He peeked through the peephole to see who or what was on the other side. It was incredibly dark outside, and all he could see were three silhouettes standing on his front porch. Flipping the light on revealed who they were.

In the middle stood a short woman. Her orange hair was a complete mess - covered in what looked to be dirt. Going further, her face had blood spatter on it. The dark, almost brown specks coated her right side.

But he knew who she was. It was Nora. She looked terrified or maybe desperate?

Jaune quickly unlocked the door, fumbling the deadbolt while trying to pull the door open. Yet he managed to nearly throw the door open so he could let his friends inside. It couldn't have been any faster for them.

Nora was the first one in the door, followed by Ren and Dante. The former of the three wrapped her arms around Jaune's waist in a crushing hug that forced all the air out of his lungs. Jaune managed to return the embrace as he felt Nora bury her face into his chest.

"Ren, are you guys alright," Marron asked abruptly, earning Jaune's attention. "Vi, can you grab them some water?"

Jaune turned to Ren.

He was covered head to toe in blood. It was all over him - in his hair, much of it caked on his face despite being wiped off with a towel, Ren's once green shirt was now maroon, and his jeans were soaked in it. It looked like Ren had swum through a pool of blood, or had crawled through a puddle of it on his stomach.

"What happened to you," Jaune asked, letting go of Nora, allowing her to tend to Ren.

He and Nora sat down on the couch. Vi finally came back with a glass of water and handed it off to Ren. The man took a few sips before setting it down on the coffee table.

"W-We were at the dorms," Nora began apprehensively. "Everything just went crazy."

"Yeah," Ren agreed, nodding his head. "We only barely made it out of there..."

[Ren: An Hour and a Half Ago.]

Ren lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling. The tan paint on the drywall took up most of his view. Only the nightstand sitting next to his bed and the dim glow from his lamp was the only other things he could see right now.

There was complete and utter silence right now. No loud stereos booming late into the night or his neighbours throwing a party at midnight as per usual. Only the soft exhale coming from his nostrils with every breath he took.

It wasn't normal.

Not since what happened almost two weeks ago. Cardin went nuts and tried to kill one of his friends while succeeding to kill several others. Things hadn't really been the same at the Academy.

Then the murders started happening all around the city. People finding bodies in alleyways that were half-eaten. Others were attacked on the streets by groups of crazy people. The news was going absolutely wild discussing that, which treated him to several exciting discussions while watching the broadcasts.

Ren didn't know what to make of it.

Even at the Academy, kids who lived in the dorms were being withdrawn by their parents. Ren and several others had to stay since they couldn't easily leave Vale or had nowhere else to go. Teachers were also asking the students who remained to not leave the premises and had introduced a curfew.

Of course, nobody ever followed said curfew, but that wasn't the primary issue.

Some students were being taken to the hospital because they were getting sick. Nobody said for what exactly, but the old rumour mill didn't take very long to come up with several ideas. A few were actually rational and based on circumstances with what was happening in Vale, but others turned out to be quite ludicrous.

Ren, however, was woken up several times just this week by the sound of an ambulance wailing into the night. At times when he had been awake for it, he could see the flashing lights from either a police car leading the emergency vehicle. Yet it seemed like the ambulances were running around the surrounding blocks every night.

 _Maybe it was that flu outbreak?_

Cramped dorm rooms, three or four people living in one space, close proximity to neighbours, and teenagers were a recipe for some kind of disease to spread. Not to mention the probably less than sanitised conditions of their apartments.

Luckily, Ren was fortunate enough to get a single room all to himself. Which was technically not 'his' room. Nora practically lived here alongside him despite the rules about mono-gender living spaces. Not that there were any problems with his childhood friend hanging out with him.

Speaking of Nora, however.

She said she would be coming over in a little bit. They were going to watch a movie and play some video games. Not in that order, but including snacks as well. Nora was also going to bring over her roommate since she didn't have anything to do either.

Ren wasn't concerned with punctuality when it came to Nora. Having known her long enough, he half expected there to be a Boogy-Nora hiding under his bed at this very moment. Or she may have been trying to get past any faculty members and was stopped by one of them.

As confusing as it could be around her, she was only human. Ren doubted the energetic girl would try to repel down the side of the building and sneak through his window before hiding under the bed.

Actually, scratch that. It sounded just like Nora to pull a stunt like that. Which made Ren want to check under his bed in case Nora was hiding there.

Although, that was part of her charm. She acted as his foil.

 _*Thud*_

Ren's thoughts were interrupted by a knock coming from the far side of the room. He looked in that direction to see what it was, sitting up on his bed to get a better view.

 _What was that?_

His eyes trained on the door leading to the hallway. Ren could see some light coming through the crack between the floor and the doorway. The light in the hall must have switched on while a person was walking through it.

In that small space, however, Ren saw the shadow of someone's feet idling right in front of the door. Two black masses hung right there, refusing to move for several seconds. Before Ren could move to answer the door, they disappeared, accompanied by footsteps heading down the hallway.

Slipping his shoes on, Ren quickly tied them so he could check the hallway. Maybe it was someone playing a prank by knocking on everyone's doors or someone was looking for help? There was no way that knock was from Nora.

She was far too rambunctious to merely tap on the door.

 _ **"NO, LEAVE HER ALONE!"**_

A scream accompanied those words just outside in the hallway. It was not only a cry but a blood-curdling scream of fear. Piercing the walls, vibrating them with a vibrato that shook Ren's bones. It sent the boy into a panic just hearing that terrible shriek.

But that other girl. It was a voice all too familiar to Ren. A scream he had heard many times before. Enough that it had burned itself into his very soul.

It was Nora. She was out there too. Somebody was attacking her roommate. Attacking her.

Ren threw open the door with a fury, slamming the door handle deep into the drywall without care. He bolted out into the hallway, searching for the origin of the scream, turning his head sharply left then right. That was when he found it. The source of that ungodly shriek.

There was another student on top of Nora's roommate. Nora herself was planted firmly against a nearby wall, keeping herself as far away from the attacker as she could. The look on her face was one of absolute horror covered in specks of blood and tear streaks. There was no way for her to run, the nearby stairs were blocked off, and she was paralysed by fear.

The girl and the man attacking her. Ren wished he had never seen anything like this. He was biting into her neck, severing arteries and meat as the girl screamed and tried to push him away with all of her strength. The man was literally chomping at her neck, tearing rough chunks out with every bite. His face and shirt were becoming more or less soaked in a layer of crimson as he ripped the poor girl's neck apart.

Ren could barely believe what he was seeing. It was right in front of him, but the pure animalism that he displayed was something straight out of a horror movie. He froze out of fear, forcing himself to watch this as his own body refused to move.

The girl continued muttering nonsensically as she reached the last few moments of her life. However, that did not stop the man from continuing to bite into her. He proceeded until the head was nearly halfway removed from the body.

Slowly, the girl grew limp as the sheer blood loss took its toll on her body. Her hand fell down to her side, and she slumped over. The girl's head turned just enough so her still open eyes stared directly at Ren.

Those cold dead eyes still held their expression of fear and terror.

The man stood up and turned towards Nora suddenly, letting out an animalistic growl as he went to attack her next. He dove headfirst - mouth wide open, exposing his bloodied set of teeth to bite her.

Nora shielded herself with her arms, paralysed out of fear. She stood almost like a statue except for her upper body.

At that moment, time slowed to a crawl for Ren. He watched as the man went to attack Nora. His best friend was terrified beyond all belief, yet he stood here as a bystander, not doing anything to save her.

He couldn't live with himself to see her get hurt. Especially when this creature had just slaughtered Nora's friend without a second thought. He would rather die.

"Get away from her!"

Ren shot forward in an instant, clearing the distance between them in only a fraction of a second. His vision tunnelled, solely focusing on the man who was about to kill his best friend. Everything else was just an obstacle in his way.

He slammed his shoulder into the side of the man's ribs. Ren's smaller size and weight were made up for with his speed, throwing the man off his feet and down a nearby flight of stairs. The sounds of him tumbling down the stairs filled the hallway, echoing throughout the once silent building.

Ren turned to Nora and embraced her in a hug. She did the same yet started crying hard into his chest. Her muffled sobs rang out from beneath Ren's shirt, and her tears began to moisten the cloth.

At least she was safe. That bastard wasn't able to hurt her physically, but Nora will not be alright for a while after this. There was no way someone could get through seeing that without there being a mark.

Other students started leaving their rooms as the commotion died down. Most hesitantly approached the scene as expected, glancing at Ren and Nora and then the body. A few were on their Scrolls, calling the cops and an ambulance.

As the crowd gathered, Ren continued looking around the area. He glanced at the man who tried to attack Nora. Luckily, the man didn't seem to be moving anymore.

That would be a problem for later. For now, Nora needed him to focus on her.

He continued holding Nora while occasionally glancing up at the crowd. Ren wanted to make sure no one was filming this but-

 **"HELP ME!"**

On the other side of the hallway, another scream drew the onlooker's attention. Everyone turned the face the shout at the same time. Ren could just barely see through the ten or so people gathered around the scene.

It was another woman, but she didn't look like a student. She was far too old; maybe in her thirties or forties. The woman was screaming hysterically, startling everyone. Most of those screams were unintelligible and more like pained cries. She stumbled closer to the group nearly collapsing against the wall, managing to catch herself at the last minute.

That's when Ren saw the wounds.

The woman was covered in deep gashes. Along her arms, one on her shoulder, and another on her leg. They didn't look like knife wounds or anything you would get from an automobile accident. It was merely a series of horseshoe-shaped cuts and tears that bled profusely.

But the size of those wounds wouldn't have been from a dog or an animal. Those came from a person. They matched the shape of any human or faunus teeth marks. Somebody bit that woman and took flesh several times over! Yet she was still standing!

Before anybody could go to help her, a half dozen men and woman, all of varying ages came from the stairway at the other end of the hall. The first, a middle-aged man, tackled her down on the floor, beating her with his bare fists. The rest dog-piled onto her, biting her, ripping her body open.

The woman had long since stopped screaming since they arrived. A pool of blood beneath formed, soaking into the linoleum floor and any gaps between the wall and floor.

When one of the attackers turned their gaze onto the group of stunned teenagers, Ren's eyes became wide as dinner plates. The look of hunger and ferocity on their faces were inhuman. Some began leaving the body in favour of the group in front of them. Only three or four kept their attention on the corpse resting at their knees.

The first rose to his feet, moving into a sprint as he charged the group. Ren's breathing shuddered at that moment. They were looking to kill him and his friends without any remorse to satisfy whatever cannibalistic urges taking over their minds.

" _ **NORA**_ , we have to go," Ren shouted at the top of his lungs.

Ren acted quickly, grabbing Nora's hand and dragging her down the stairs. The girl followed close behind him as he led the way. He had no clue if there were any more of these monsters in the lower halls, but there was no way to get back to his room and lock themselves in. Ren didn't even bother to look back at the other students.

Coming down the stairs, Ren carefully passed by the body. He inched by it, keeping his distance, hoping it would not move. His feet stepped through the small puddle of blood pooling near the man's head. Likewise, Nora squeezed past him, huddling behind the boy for protection.

They finally reached the second floor; luckily, it was deserted besides a few other students trying to figure out what was happening. Ren could hear the ensuing panic upstairs on the third and the other students running away. They would be coming downstairs as well, trying to get away from the attackers. The people attacking them would follow.

Some of the other students on this floor ran back inside their rooms, locking them before Ren and Nora could seek shelter. Neither stopped to beg so they would let them inside, both kept running to the other end of the hallway.

As they reached the staircase leading to the first floor; a group of students were running up to the second floor. Something else was chasing them, and they were trying to flee to higher ground, trapping Nora and Ren on the second floor.

Ren saw what they were running from too. It was two other students soaked in blood from head to toe, growling like animals as they took down another person. They tore into that poor soul without a second thought as the rest did.

He turned around, hoping there was another way out of this. Both ends of the hallway were blocked off; nobody was going to open their doors for them; there were no side hallways they could use to escape. What could he do?

 _ **Think Ren!**_

Nora was still holding his hand with an iron grip. She stared down the hallway as the students from the second floor approached with the assailants right on their heels. Ren backed into her as he moved away from the staircase directly in front of him.

"Renny, the window," Nora shouted to him.

Ren turned to see a window about ten feet from where he was standing. The steel-framed port was their only hope of getting out of here. Everywhere else was blocked off and they couldn't stay here any longer.

Nora led him over to the window, letting his hand go so she could open it. She unlatched the two locks holding it shut, throwing the bottom half of the window open.

Even though it was dark outside, Ren could make out there was a ledge sitting below this window. Maybe it was a maintenance shed sitting on the outside the dorms, but it was better than the nearly twenty-foot drop leading to the ground. It was a way out of here.

In an instant, Nora had crawled out of the window, falling onto the roof. Ren followed soon after, scaling the window sill. He didn't waste any time as the other students approached to dive out onto the ledge.

Just as he cleared the window, a hand grabbed onto his leg, pulling him back up. Ren turned back to see a student - no one of the people who attacked him had a firm hand on his ankle. He kicked at the man's face hoping it would force him to let go, but another hand reached out, dragging him back inside with even greater strength.

Nora reached for his hands, tugging with every ounce of muscle she could muster. It was enough for those who were attacking Ren to let go. He fell onto Nora, knocking them both down.

Ren threw himself off Nora, reaching down to help her up. He dragged Nora to her feet and began sprinting towards a ladder with her in tow. In a matter of seconds, they reached the ladder.

As Nora began her descent, Ren watched the roof for anybody coming after them. Up by the window, more of those, 'Things,' were trying to climb out the window. Luckily, there was not enough space for them as they tried to clamber out simultaneously.

When Nora had made it halfway down the building, Ren followed her. He barely even bothered to use the rungs, sliding down the ladder as fast as he could. Ren only made sure he didn't hit Nora on the way down, and the bottom of the ladder was clear.

Landing on the ground, Ren fell back against the brick wall of the building. His heavy breathing matched Nora's own as they each sucked down a few gulps of air.

"Take a second and rest, Nora," Ren commanded, weaving his fingers together and placing them on his head. "We need to get away from the campus and find a cop or someone who can help."

"Yeah," she agreed, breathing heavily. "But what was that?! Those people were just killing each other!" She looked up at him with a bleak expression.

There was no way for either of them to know right now. All that mattered right now was to get away from here and find someplace safe. They would have to be careful if more people were acting like that.

"I don't know," he answered her truthfully. "Let's just focus on getting out of here! We can talk about this later!"

He almost snapped at Nora, but they couldn't worry about that kind of stuff right now. Ren needed to find someone who could help them out. If not, then a vehicle they could use because neither owned a car.

"Ok," Nora replied, almost dejectedly. "Maybe we should find a weapon in case we run into another one of those, 'Things?' I don't think there are any stairs down here we can use all the time..."

That almost made him chuckle. He was lucky they had a set of stairs nearby that took care of one of them immediately. Ren did understand the need for a weapon right now, however.

Unfortunately, they weren't anywhere close to the gym, or he could have grabbed a baseball bat. Anything he could swing around would work.

 _*Splat*_

Both Ren and Nora turned to the noise. It sounded like something hit the ground hard. Like you just dropped a wet towel onto concrete.

Ren held a finger up to his mouth, telling Nora to be quiet. Slowly, he inched himself closer to the edge of the wall he leaned against so he could take a peak. They didn't want to give themselves away since they were behind cover right now.

Peaking around a corner Ren could see it. There was one of those, 'Things,' stretched out on the concrete. Maybe he fell off the roof, but it was laying on the ground mumbling and groaning unintelligibly.

Withdrawing his head, Ren turned back to Nora. "It's one of those, 'Things,'" he said quietly. He looked over at a fence a hundred or so feet away. "Let's sneak past him and climb over the fence!"

"Yeah, but what if he comes after us," she asked in response.

Ren peered around the corner once again to see if it had moved anywhere. He didn't answer the question, however, looking to see if there was something he could use a weapon.

It looked like they were next to a dumpster. Since they were at the back of the dorms most of the trash would be back here. Hopefully, somebody threw away something they could use.

Ren stuck his head out a little farther as he could not see anything just yet. He didn't want to press his luck any more than he had already done so. However, he couldn't know if he spent more time hiding than looking.

As he looked around the corner, Ren spied a metal object lying at the base of a dumpster. It looked like a metal rod - some kind of pipe maybe? He reached out and grabbed it, rushing back behind the wall.

 **Steel Pipe**

 **Weight: ~3-5kg**

 **A steel pipe typically used for plumbing.**

This would do nicely. There was some weight behind it, but for a foot and a half-length of steel piping, Ren couldn't have been happier.

"This should work," Ren said, holding the pipe up to show Nora.

She nodded back, giving her approval. "Let's go..."

Ren started heading across the deserted parking lot with Nora close behind him. Both were creeping along in an awkward crouch walk, trying to keep their profile low and not attract any attention. They were out in an open area with little to no cover for them to hide behind. Neither could afford to draw any attention.

 _ **"HUUAAGH!"**_

Halfway across the parking lot, a piercing scream came from behind them. Ren turned back to see the man who had fallen off the roof, staring directly at them. The man quickly rose to his feet despite what looked to be a broken arm from the fall.

"Nora, run now," Ren ordered, taking off into a sprint while keeping the mentioned girl in front of him.

Both teens took off in a sprint beelining straight for the fence. Even though they had been running for what seemed like forever, each was still capable of keeping a rapid pace. It was the only thing their bodies knew how to do at the moment.

Even sprinting as fast they could, the man gained ground on Ren and Nora. Quick-paced footsteps grew ever closer as they had to slow down to climb up the fence. He was gaining on them.

As they reached the fence, Ren turned at the last moment with the steel pipe in hand. Cocking his arms to the right, he swung towards the man's head, catching him right above the ear. A loud crack resonated from their meeting point, sounding much like a baseball hitting a bat.

The force behind the blow sent the man to the ground instantly. Blood spilt out from the head wound as well as a decent amount covering the metal pipe and soon Ren's hands.

The man tried to get back up, hissing and panting as if the strike dazed him. He pushed up with his good arm, throwing himself at Ren. The younger boy stepped back, gripping both hands around the metal pipe.

Ren brought down that pipe with all of his strength. Another loud crack came as he slammed it home on top of the man's head. More blood spilt outwards as it opened a deep gash from the force of it tearing his skin open.

He hit him again, eliciting another splash of blood from where the pipe connected with the man's head. Ren closed his eyes as more of the crimson fluid flew about with every swing of the pipe.

Ren kept hitting the man, beating him down with the pipe. He didn't care about stopping. This asshole was trying to kill both him and Nora. He kept getting back up after the first few hits. Ren was going to make sure he stayed down for good.

"REN!"

A shout from his side drew his attention away from the man. It was Nora. She was on the other side of the fence, gripping the links, staring directly at him. The girl wore an expression of pure fear.

She was scared of him.

He looked back down at the man. His head was caved in, pouring blood profusely from the wound. Most of his skull was cast about in the grass they sat upon. Everything around him was soaked in an easily visible coat of blood.

"We need to go, Ren," Nora begged. "We need to leave! Come on! Please!"

Ren turned towards the fence, throwing the pipe over onto the other side. If more people were like this. If more people were out there killing each other. Ren was going to keep that pipe on him and never let it leave his side.

He needed to keep Nora safe...

[Jaune: Present Time]

"We ran into more of those, 'Things,' and killed a few of them," Ren continued, taking another sip of his water. "Then Dante picked us up when he saw us walking on the side of the road."

 _Holy shit..._

Ren literally fought his way out of Beacon. If anybody was going to earn badass points, it was Ren. Jaune was sure of that. It was one of the only things he was sure of right now.

"What about you, Dante," Jaune turned to his best friend. Hopefully, he could give them some information or at least something to go off of.

"My dad called me and told me to get the fuck out of Vale," he explained curtly. "My Scroll lost signal during the call, so I didn't really know what was going on until Ren told me what happened."

"At least you guys made it here," Marron said. "We've been trying to call our friends and family for a while now, but we can't get a signal."

"The same thing happened with the radio when we were driving over here," Nora added on. "It went to static then died."

But the TV worked. Jaune wasn't sure exactly why, although it might be because they had a dish and it could still pick up a signal. People were broadcasting the news, but those who worked at radio stations may have abandoned them.

"Well, whatever happened to it, everyone's still in the dark," Vi spoke up, leaning against a nearby wall. "We know this is some kind of disease and we can't contact our families."

"Then what should we do," Nora asked the group, looking for input.

There weren't very many options. The city was still in a full-on panic. Jaune couldn't talk to his parents or the rest of his family. It's only been an hour, and the shit has already hit the fan.

"We can't really do anything," Jaune said despondently. "We're safe for now at the farm. Right now, it's too risky to go anywhere. Maybe we should just wait it out."

It was barely a plan. It could be weeks before all of this was resolved. Any natural disaster took that long at the very least. But this was _big_. It wasn't just some hurricane. People were turning into flesh-eating freaks and killing each other.

"That's it," Nora questioned. Not angrily, but confused. Everyone else looked to Jaune in the same manner.

"Yeah," Jaune sighed. "My dad's in the Valish Defence Force. We can't call him right now, but maybe he'll come get us. Or he'll send some soldiers to pick us up and take us somewhere safe."

That was the best-case scenario. What if what was happening in Vale was happening in the Valish Defence Force? They had the resources to make a safe space for refugees and their soldiers. Maybe they figured out this was going on and were able to protect themselves first.

"Jaune has a point," Ren stated, standing up from the couch. "We should rest for now and see what's changed in the morning."

"But you and Nora need to get out of those clothes," Vi added on before anybody could move. "If that's blood from those infected people, you can't keep those on."

"They should also burn them," Jaune added on. "It's a disease, and we shouldn't take any chances." Jaune cupped his chin, thinking of an example. "You remember the lesson on pre-Great War colonialism? Blankets contaminated with smallpox would spread the disease to those who used them."

It was just best to burn them. Ren and Nora would lose their clothes, but Jaune would lend them some of his. He had a few sets that were small enough for Ren, and Nora could steal a shirt and shorts from Marron.

"Marron and I will help you with that," Vi said, heading towards the basement where there were guest rooms. "Jaune, if you want to keep working on the guns, we'll take care of the rest."

"Yeah," he agreed. "I'll stay on the couch from now on and keep an eye on the news. The rest of you should try to get some sleep."

Jaune headed back to the den. He was going to finish loading the guns then post-up on the couch. Maybe he could try to get some sleep. Jaune had no idea if anybody else would be able to.

Come morning, it was going to be the start of a _long_ day...

* * *

 **So, Ren is our first badass of the story. I didn't want to make Jaune it because he wasn't in a position to be said badass.**

 **Ren's body count: 1 (on screen.) Jaune's body count: Zip.**


	8. Day 15

**Surprise Bitch!**

 **You thought it was going to take another week to get a chapter out? I had this in my back pocket for a while now!**

 **I actually did. (I also wanted to slide a 'It was me, Dio' joke in here, but decided against it.)**

 **I was having trouble deciding where I wanted to go with this chapter, but then I came to the conclusion just to focus on Jaune. I was going to have two character perspectives with the other being Yang, but decided to give her a chapter all by herself.**

 **Too much going on at once if I had both. It would also extend the word count out to 10k words, and that would have been a bit of a bitch.**

 **So, this chapter is covering the situation at home for our Merry Band. The zambie apocalypse is not all guns and action. Especially, at this point when our characters are still trying to figure out what to do. Next chapter, well get some good stuff with Yang.**

 **I'll also begin rendering the hopelessness of their situation in later chapters.**

* * *

 **"NO,** _ **LET ME GO!"**_

A scream woke Jaune out of a dead sleep.

He shot straight off the couch and onto his feet in less than a second, barely taking the time to wake his body up. His heart already wanted to beat out of his chest at hearing that terrible howl.

It was like if you mixed a coyote's call with all the emotion that a human could put into a scream. There was a present tone of fear, and more aptly, terror in the voice. It was enough to chill Jaune's blood, eliciting goosebumps to rise and his hair to stand on end. Except he didn't know why this person screamed.

There were just too many variables and not enough information to form a conclusion, but Jaune needed to make sure it wasn't an Infected. That's if whatever it was hadn't already made its way inside the house.

 _NO-NO-NO-NO, FUCK!_

He looked around, eyeing the 12 Gauge sitting on the coffee table. Jaune snatched that up, racking the forend back and loading a shell into the chamber. The click echoed throughout the house, following the sounds of footsteps from upstairs.

Jaune bolted towards the door leading to the basement. The scream came from just below him, going straight through the floor and into the living room. That was where Ren and Nora were sleeping.

He just barely caught the faint image of his sisters coming down the stairs in their nightwear. Jaune didn't even take the time to acknowledge them, running straight past them. To him, they both seemed like a blur of shadows in the night.

 _Okay, you can do this Jaune!_ He took two breaths before moving forward.

Jaune pulled the door open, pointing the shotgun down the stairs. He reached out with his left hand, flicking on the lights while maintaining his aim. The sudden brightness nearly blinding him, but there was nothing on the stairs or anywhere near the bottom.

Jaune didn't know if he was glad or terrified. Right now, it was probably the latter. He was ready to die from a heart attack if something jumped out at him.

He began heading down the stairs, slowly, not even risking a creak from the boards. His hands were always on the shotgun, shaking in fear, but holding the firearm steady. Likewise, his shaky breaths filled the otherwise silent room with just a little bit of sound to drown out the white noise.

 _Please-Please-Please be nothing!_

Reaching the part of the stairs where it allowed Jaune to see into the basement, he pointed the shotgun out into the main room. He scanned back and forth for anyone he didn't know and anybody that was covered in blood from head to toe.

Everything seemed to be perfectly fine. There was nothing down here. Not a single soul beside him. What concerned Jaune was the rustling coming from the room where Ren and Nora were staying.

 _Fuck!_

He crept over to the door quietly, allowing the carpet to mask his footsteps. Jaune kept the shotgun pressed against his shoulder pointed at the door. He only aimed it elsewhere to check around a corner. Finding everything else was clear, but that last room.

 _Okay, Jaune, just fucking do it!_

He reached out with his left hand again, twisting the doorknob just enough to unlatch it from the frame. Gently, he pushed the door open, taking a step back in case something came running out. There were a generous three or four feet between him and the door as he pointed the shotgun into the opening.

"Ren, Nora," he called out, harshly whispering into the void before him.

Not one of the lights were on. He couldn't see any more than two feet before everything turned to shadows. All he could make out was a bunch of shapes that could have been furniture or people.

"Jaune," a voice that sounded like Ren's replied. "It's all right. You can turn on the light..."

He lowered the shotgun, realising he had been pointing it at his friends the entire time. That must have been startling for them seeing a guy standing in the door with a loaded gun. Jaune knew it would be for him if he were in their place.

Jaune put the safety on and set the shotgun on a table. In two steps, he was inside the room and searching for the switch to the light. Finding it, he flicked it on to reveal what was going on.

The room itself was neat and orderly. Only a cup or two on the nearby nightstands. Ren's now clean steel pipe rested on top of one closest to him. In the centre, where the bed was, Ren had wrapped his arms around Nora and pulled her into his chest. The girl was crying softly into his shirt, with only a whimper escaping the fabric.

"Nightmare," Jaune asked curtly.

Ren nodded once, turning back to Nora. His right hand was on her upper back, rubbing it in soft circles. The other encircled her waist, pulling Nora closer to him. Likewise, her arms were wrapped around Ren's waist.

Jaune exhaled loudly, running his hands through his hair. The boy fell against the wall, sliding down to the floor. As he bottomed out, he stretched his legs and then pulled one up to his chest.

"You guys scared the shit out of me," Jaune exclaimed, almost chuckling. "I heard that scream and thought something happened." He wiped his face with both hands.

The surge of adrenaline started to wear off as Jaune realised it was safe now. However, the cortisol levels in his body continued to climb, making it almost unbearable to exist at the moment. Jaune's heart rate skyrocketed, and his palms became slick with moisture.

He wasn't even the only one like this.

Everyone was on edge. The tension became so thick, you could even cut it with a knife. That's how bad it was. It was like this all the time. Just waiting for something to happen. It was starting to become insufferable.

And it had barely passed the twenty-four-hour mark when all of this began.

Yesterday, Jaune spent all day watching the news, hoping for something. Anything useful he could use to further his knowledge about what was going on. He spent so much time awake, he had only gotten another hour of sleep before trying to go to bed a few hours ago.

Nora and Ren were just out of it. Neither were talkative after they explained what happened at Beacon. They just shut down and stayed in the basement the whole day. Jaune didn't even know how they were sleeping.

Either of them having a nightmare was expected. What they saw would have caused night terrors for weeks beyond fleeing Vale. It was purely understandable, and nobody could hold it against them.

His sisters were visibly stressed out. They had been trying to call everybody they could to no avail. The only other person Marron managed to get was their older sister Noire, saying she was already out of Blacklight. When calling the rest of their family, none of the calls would connect still.

Jaune could only consider Marron and Vi lucky right now. Neither of them came face to face with the Infected like Jaune and Ren had. The latter had everyone else beat in that regard as he bludgeoned to death, several people.

And Jaune's younger sisters? He couldn't really know. They explained what was going on to them, but none of the older Arc's could gauge their emotional response. They were old enough to understand, at least.

"How do you think I felt," Ren replied with a question.

It probably scared the absolute shit out of him. Even though Ren was not an emotional person, he was still subject to that. More so, given how close he was to Nora.

"I get it," Jaune nodded to Ren, pushing up from the wall. "I'll leave you guys so you can try to sleep. I'm probably not going to."

Ren would be able to take care of Nora on his own for tonight. There was nothing more Jaune could do for her until tomorrow morning at breakfast.

Jaune turned off the light and closed the door behind him. A quick glance of the room told him none of his sisters or friends followed him down here. Understandable given the circumstances.

Heading to the couch, Jaune spied the shotgun still resting atop the cushions. Its barrel pointing away from the armrest and towards a nearby wall. He picked it up, holding it in both hands as he went back to the stairs.

He had been close to shooting one of his friends. Not out of malice or anger, but fear. Jaune didn't know he felt about that. It wasn't good at all. It was a certain feeling that was indescribable to him.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Jaune grabbed hold of the doorknob. He tried to twist the knob to release the latch, but no dice. Someone had locked it behind him while he went down there. Most likely, his sisters if Jaune had to guess.

They were taking precautions. Not that it didn't irritate Jaune after what just happened. Yet he understood their apprehension. Hearing screams in the middle of the night after your friends fought people who cold turn you ravenous only by infecting you with a disease would make anybody wary.

"Marron, open the door," Jaune spoke through the oak barrier. "It's fine."

The sound of wood scraping against wood came from the other side of the door. They must have pushed a table or couch against it just to be sure. As if locking Jaune in wasn't enough, leaving him to contend with two physical barriers was their idea.

After the scraping stopped, someone unlocked the door. Then it swung open to reveal what looked to be a woman in the faint light. Her height told Jaune that it was Vi.

"Sorry about locking you in," Marron spoke up from a few feet away. "We didn't know what was going on."

"It's fine," Jaune deflected, knowing it was all right. "We'll talk about this in the morning." He passed his sisters, heading for the couch.

"Are Ren and Nora all right," Marron continued, turning to face Jaune's back.

"I said we will talk about it in the morning," Jaune repeated, allowing some irritation to seethe through. "I'll tell you what happened before breakfast... Just go back to bed."

The other three nodded to Jaune and returned to either the stairs or the den. This left him alone for the time being. As alone as he could get with his best friend sleeping in the other living room a few feet away. ]

Jaune sat down on the couch, leaning into the cushions. It was not enough to melt the stress of the last two days away, but it was getting there.

 _Let's try to get some sleep..._

[Morning]

While they were making breakfast, Jaune filled everyone in on what happened. Each took it in their own way but decided to not broach the subject unless Ren or Nora brought it up. They agreed that was for the best, not putting those two in the spotlight.

Right now, they were just going to put a meal on the table. Something light to get everyone through to lunch. They had a lot of ground to cover today, and a small breakfast was an excellent idea.

Jaune turned around, dumping the last of the pancakes he made onto a platter. It was more than what they usually made, but they had a lot more people here to feed. Said people would probably eat everything, which would force Jaune to make more.

 _That's done..._ He looked over to Dante.

The faunus was busy preparing omelettes. About three or four, mainly for Marron, himself, and Ren. Which were a healthy composite of mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, onions, and diced ham.

"You done yet," Jaune asked, picking up the platter.

Dante's right ear twitched, causing him to turn his head to Jaune. "Uhhh, yeah," he replied, scooping the last omelette onto a plate. "You got the fruit?"

"It's already on the table," Jaune said, leaving the kitchen.

"Good..."

Outside in the dining room, the rest of the Arc family was already seated. Both Blanche and Rouge sat next to each other. Marron and Vi took opposite sides of the table. Ren and Nora... They hadn't come up yet.

"Breakfast is ready guys," Jaune announced, approaching the dining room. Several pairs of eyes turned his way. All looking quite hungry as they stared at the pile of cakes he was holding.

Jaune set the platter on the table, beginning to distribute the pancakes. A few for his younger sisters of whom smothered their stacks in a thick layer of maple syrup. Vi snatched up three and a bowl of berries on the side. Likewise, Dante sat down next to Marron and slid an omelette onto her plate. Jaune's twin then grabbed an orange and a few peach slices.

Jaune made a plate for himself and Nora. He knew how much the bubbly ginger loved pancakes with plenty of syrup. That's if she did eat at this meal.

It would have been likely Nora didn't have had an appetite right now. Jaune himself wasn't feeling, especially peckish. Must have been the leftover adrenaline in his system that made him like this. Same for Nora, but probably due to stress more than anything.

A short ruckus could be heard from the basement stairs as Jaune passed out the rest of the food. He turned to see Ren coming out of the staircase first, followed by Nora. The former of which held the door open for his friend.

"Hey, Ren, Nora, we made pancakes and omelettes," Jaune said, inviting them to the table. He ran a hand through his hair after finishing getting set up.

"Thanks," Nora replied, lacking her usual cheerfulness. The redhead merely sat down at the table and pulled her plate over to her spot.

Jaune turned his gaze to Ren, and that's when he saw it. Right below the left side of his lip was a bruise. Not some minor blood vessel bursting below his skin. This was a monster covering half of his left cheek.

Jaune could only suspect that Nora had hit Ren after she woke up from her nightmare. It was either that or Ren had fallen out of bed and smacked his face on something. With how Nora may have reacted to whatever was going on in her dream, it could only be the former.

Judging by how the others were glancing upwards at the bruise, they knew it as well. Nora just looked guilty because of it just like how Jaune felt when he came running downstairs with a loaded gun. Ren didn't seem to mind, or at least he wasn't showing it.

"Let me grab you an ice pack," Jaune said, heading inside the kitchen.

The rest of the group took their seats while Jaune went to dive into the fridge. He returned a few moments later with a blue piece of plastic wrapped in a paper towel. Ren took it from Jaune and pressed it against his face.

The ice pack would help keep Ren's face from swelling up like a balloon. For a while, but it would still look pretty bad until it completely healed. Nora must have caught him with a nasty right hook. It made it worse, given how strong she was.

Nora Valkyrie was a _very_ strong woman.

"Thanks," Ren said, grabbing a fork with his right hand while he used his left to hold the ice pack.

Jaune grabbed his utensils and began digging into his meal. A few moments later, he had made it through about a third of his stack. Most of his focus was on eating, but Jaune could still perceive some of what was going on at the table.

An awkward silence had taken over breakfast. Nobody was talking. Where it usually had been fun and games at meals, it simply was not that anymore. Jaune knew as well as anybody the mood had soured since yesterday. Even more so after this morning.

It was surprising, even now, as Jaune had given it a lot of thought since yesterday. Everyone was just not themselves since they all gathered at his house. To say it was unnerving would be an understatement.

Of course, the knowledge that Vale was currently in full-blown chaos and people were killing each other probably just sunk in. Out of everyone, Jaune had time to think about things, which is why he might not have been as affected by this as the rest of his friends. He had already encountered an Infected once before.

That didn't make him worry any less about his other friends and family. He was still very much on the edge of his seat, waiting for any news about them.

"So does anybody have any ideas..." Jaune broke the silence. "For what we should do today?"

He looked around the table for an answer. Everyone seemed to be thinking. Nora wasn't, she was picking at her food, hiding inside her mind.

"Have you seen anything on the news," Ren asked, setting down his ice pack and fork.

"No," Jaune answered, shaking his head. "They're still talking about the outbreak right now. Nothing else, really."

It didn't seem like any new information had cropped up recently. Jaune had only watched the news for a few minutes before getting breakfast, but only status updates were being presented at the moment. Vale was still going to shit, people were dying in droves, and the military had only begun quarantining the entire city.

"I guess we can keep trying to call people," Marron suggested, wiping her mouth with a napkin. "There's not much else we can do here." She looked around the table for anyone else's opinions.

"You're right," Ren agreed. "We should keep trying after breakfast."

...

Vi sent their little sisters upstairs after breakfast ended. They didn't need to be around for this, and it was best to keep their minds occupied on something else. Everyone else, however, gathered in the living room with their Scrolls and any other technology they had at hand.

"This is everything," Ren asked, sitting down in an armchair.

"Pretty much," Jaune replied.

He and his sisters literally scavenged the house for every laptop, Scroll, and communications device they could find. It wasn't much, just whatever wasn't bolted down or a desktop. Jaune's parents had their own personal devices on them when they went to work. Those were currently unavailable to the group now.

Jaune picked up his own Scroll and looked through the device.

He still had internet access, which was good for the most part. However, his signal was awful with only one bar that dipped to none every few seconds. That would mean calling people would be an issue if he lost them repeatedly.

"How bad is the signal for the rest of you," Jaune asked, looking up at his friends. "Mine's not good."

"Nora's is gone," Ren said.

"I got one bar," Dante spoke up.

"So do I," Marron added on.

Vi wiped her face with both hands, groaning loudly. She was clearly frustrated as her Scroll hadn't worked since yesterday morning.

"Why is _nothing_ working," she exclaimed angrily, pushing herself up from the couch. "This is bullshit!" She started pacing back and forth. "Why do we still have the internet and TV, but we can't call anybody?!"

"We don't know, Vi," Jaune asserted calmly, understanding her frustration and the need to be gentle right now. "Something might have happened to the cell towers or the main CCT."

Everything was run through the CCT. It acted as the primary beacon for every telecommunications device in Vale or the other countries around the planet. There were the satellites in orbit too, but most of everything was run through the CCT.

That said, there were redundant systems built in case one went down. It would have prevented Vale, Atlas, or anywhere else from being cut off from the rest of the planet. However, if one part of the country were cut off from the rest, it wouldn't have mattered if the CCT was down.

That could be why there was no cell coverage. The satellites were likely still online, but local and long-distance cell coverage had shit itself.

"I guess," Vi relented, plopping back down in her chair.

"Why don't we try going on the roof," Nora finally spoke up. Her tone was more serious than it had been yesterday, but it didn't seem like she was as upset anymore. "There's a balcony, so we might be able to get a signal if we call from up there."

They had tried calling from inside the house several times and even outside in the yard and got nothing. Maybe it was the surrounding terrain, but they usually had great coverage out here.

"Sure, why not," Jaune agreed, getting up from the couch. "Ren, Dante, do you guys want to come with me? The rest of you can try seeing if there's anything online."

"Yeah," Dante said, looking through the laptop in front of him. "People are posting videos about the outbreak. See..."

He turned the laptop towards the group.

It was a video being recorded by someone on the second or third story of a building. The subject was a large mob of Infected out in the streets. There were so many in fact, you couldn't see the road itself as they stumbled around. Screams and shouts rang out as the recorder huddled behind a slightly parted curtain, hoping to avoid having attention drawn to themselves.

...

Jaune, Ren, and Dante rounded up all of the phones and made their way upstairs. They were looking for a hatch leading up to the attic which would take them to the balcony. Maybe there, they could get a better signal?

The contents of that video made them work with feverish haste. It really freaked them out seeing that. All those people turned ravenous on one street could be anybody. Worse if they were anybody Jaune knew. Such a thought prompted Jaune to try calling his parents again from the roof to see if they could get a signal.

"Here it is," Jaune pointed out, looking up at a rectangular door in the ceiling. He grabbed a wire connected to the door and gave it a firm tug.

The door fell downwards, letting a set of folding stairs uncollapse allowing them to head upstairs.

Jaune went up first, followed by Ren and then Dante.

In the attic, Jaune looked around for the entrance to the rooftop balcony. He had not been up there in his recent memory, but there should have been a door leading to another staircase. All he could see was lots of antiques with white sheets draped over them. Some of the stuff was maybe around thirty to forty years older than Jaune. A few pieces up here were old machines that were large enough that they shouldn't have been able to fit through the tiny hole in the floor.

"Your grandpa's got a lot of stuff up here," Dante mentioned as he reached the top of the stairs with Jaune and Ren.

Most of the stuff was his grandfather's. Jaune's grandmother kept it up here after he died, and eventually, it found its way into his dad's hands where it stayed.

"Yeah he does," Jaune agreed, walking over to a stack of boxes. "But I'm sure all of this stuff was here before Scrolls even existed, so I don't think any of it's going to help us."

Ren snorted loudly. "You're probably right..." He turned to the right and spotted something on the far wall. Without a word, Ren headed over to what he had seen.

"Hey, I found the door," he spoke up to garner the other men's attention.

Jaune spun around to look for where Ren was. He spotted him in front of a large lathe-looking machine and was gesturing for Jaune and Dante to come help move it. Both men understood and came over to help him.

"Okay, on three," Jaune said, grabbing the left-most edge of the machine. "One, two, three!"

They pulled hard on the giant hunk of metal, getting it to move a few feet. It wasn't enough to clear the entire door, but they could squeeze through. There was no point in trying to move the whole mechanism out of the way.

Jaune grabbed the door handle and opened the passage. Inside was a spiral staircase leading upwards. A few stray beams of light allowed Jaune to see everything as they poured in through the cracks in the walls.

"This is it," Jaune exclaimed, stepping inside the chamber.

The space was almost unbearably hot as there was no air conditioning like the rest of the house. Dust floated about in the air, coating everything inside. All a testament to how old this section of the house was and how nobody bothered with it.

The group began climbing up the staircase, hoping to get out into the open air and out of the stuffy climate of the attic. Jaune was sure this part of the house still had some asbestos floating around. However, the issue regarding ravenous monsters running about the streets seemed much more important right now.

"So, what should we do if we can't call anybody," Dante probed from the bottom of the stairs. "You guys saw that video too... I don't want to be that guy, but we need a plan."

What did they need to do?

It was honestly too early to consider such an event, but they needed to. There had to be a plan B. Especially with how bad things were in the city.

"If we can call Jaune's parents, we should listen to them," Ren spoke up. "Where does your father work again, Jaune?"

Jaune looked back down the stairs at his companions. "He works at Ft Blackwall," he answered. "It's about ten miles from here." He paused for a second. "Actually, how bad were the roads coming up here?"

If they had to leave the house and head for where Jaune's father worked, it was useful information to know. Jaune never bothered to ask about it as he had been focusing on the news since yesterday. However, if the roads were okay, then they could try.

"Not good," Ren answered in a deadpan tone. "We had to drive through the drainage ditches to get around the other cars." He cupped his chin while considering something else. "It's possible those people have made their way out into the country. The roads could be in the same condition out here."

Jaune could imagine the highways being backed up for miles right outside the county he lived in. Those people were just trying to put some distance between themselves and the city. Not much consideration beyond that, which would make it worse if they couldn't progress any father beyond twenty or so miles away from the city.

"So that's bad," Dante stated the obvious. "We're kind of trapped here?"

"Maybe," Ren followed up. "We could see if the roads are clear in a few days and try then."

"Wait for things to die down," Jaune concluded, beginning to contemplate other factors. "But what if all those people ran to the military base?"

The government hadn't announced where the refugees were supposed to go yet. They had no infrastructure or some kind of quarantine set up to take care of the influx of more bodies. Those people could also be bringing the Infected with if they followed.

"I don't know..."

[The Roof]

Time for the moment of truth.

Jaune crawled out onto the balcony through the roof hatch. There, he was met with the sight of the entire farm and surrounding forests. It was pretty if he had actually come up here for any other reason. The circumstances surrounding his visit soured the view, however.

The balcony was a small platform built on top of the house where the roof had been cut out. It was old and rickety due to the years of weathering and general lack of maintenance as there was no need for it. Jaune's grandfather had probably turned over in his grave several times if he knew what his house was like now.

He reached down and pulled Ren up, followed by Dante. The platform creaked with the added weight of three people but remained steady. Hopefully, that remained the case.

Jaune stood up completely and spun around, surveying the land around him. They were above the treeline now, and there were no more obstacles between them and any local cell tower. So, they should have a better chance of getting a call out.

"You guys ready," Jaune asked, pulling out his Scroll and one of his sister's.

Ren and Dante did the same with the remaining Scrolls they had available to them. Each went to their respective contact lists and dialled whatever numbers they could. Silence took over except for the dial tones emanating from the devices.

Jaune went for Yang's first.

She was the priority at the moment. They had managed to call her yesterday when everything started, unlike Jaune's parents. Yang was actually leaving the city, but never arrived last night or during the day. It shouldn't have taken her that long to get here if Tai or Qrow was driving them.

Maybe they got stuck out on the road and were trying to push through traffic? Jaune only hoped she got out of the city.

The dial tone played for a few seconds. Ringing once. Twice... Then the call dropped like all previous attempts. The Scroll played a recording saying, "The number you have attempted to reach, was not available." Jaune didn't listen to the rest, hitting the 'end call' button once he knew.

 _Come on... Somebody, please pick up!_

He moved on down the list. His mother's Scroll. Nothing. His father's. The same. Saphron's? No dice. The rest of his contacts either couldn't be contacted or the calls were immediately dropped.

"DAMMIT," Jaune shouted, dropping his Scroll and running his hands through his hair. He leaned against the nearby railing while trying to vent his frustration. "I got nothing!"

 _Why can't I call anybody?! Come on, please give me some good news..._

"Me neither," Ren agreed. "The calls were dropped, and I lost the signal." He showed Jaune the Scroll, having a 'No Service' label in the top left corner of the screen.

"Same..."

"We should go back inside," Ren suggested. "Maybe, try again tonight?"

Jaune didn't want to try again. He wanted results now. Literally, half of his family was unaccounted for. He couldn't give up on trying to call them.

Jaune let out a shaky breath. "You guys go back inside," he said in a low tone. "I'll stay out here for a few hours and see if I can get anything."

"You sure..."

"Yeah," Jaune replied. "I need to be alone for a while."

* * *

 **All right! That's the chapter.**

 **I know there wasn't a lot going on here, but frankly, in a situation like this, you're not going to be doing much beyond trying to call your family and friends. It's literally the most basic thing anybody is going to do if they are in a safe place during a natural disaster.**


	9. Day 16

**I'm back!**

 **So, this chapter was actually pretty easy to write. Didn't have much trouble working through it. I just envisioned myself in Yang's footsteps. She's simply a girl trying to get the fuck out of Vale. That's all. Nothing more to it.**

 **In other news, the edits have gone extremely well for You've got to use silver. I'm through chapter five right now, moving onto chapter six. Luckily, everything after four is in my present style, so all I had to do was change a few things and presto, it's up and going. Haven't posted anything yet for those edits, I want to finish them all before doing so.**

 **But I'll get through that shit eventually.**

 **I also want to know who you think should be the best girl for Monster's are just men like you and I (Vampire Jaune story). I am deciding between Ruby and Pyrrha, but I may put it to a poll to see what everyone thinks.**

 **Now... I present to you, "Yang and Ruby's quest for a car."**

 **If you have any questions about what's going on with Infected behaviour, I did my best to explain it in here. But if you have anything else, I'm happy to answer it.**

* * *

Yang awoke from her slumber to a sound coming from outside her and Ruby's shelter. The blonde focused her hearing, tuning out the present white noise. It was a series of fast-paced footsteps. No, there was more to it. It was an Infected. Yang knew it. There was several hanging out somewhere on the street.

They were howling, screaming, grunting, and creating a cacophony of sounds to give any man or woman nightmares. Yang's heart rate shot up with every second she listened. They were close. Maybe within twenty feet of where she and Ruby were sitting.

 _Fuck... This is bad... This is so fucked!_

Yang looked around the small room she and Ruby had taken shelter inside of. Some stacked boxes sat along the walls, neatly placed to conserve space. A table that used to be in the centre of the room was pushed against the door leading inside, sealing the plyboard door from the outer chamber of the building. The blinds were drawn, but the light coming inside told Yang it was almost ten in the morning. The sun was completely up, and the sun's rays cast a dim light into the room. It was enough to see clearly, albeit with half the space shroud in darkness.

She glanced down to her right, finding Ruby to be sleeping next to Zwei. Yang leaned over to check how her little sister was doing. Soft short breaths emanating from within her nose gave Yang the impression the girl was sleeping peacefully. It was better than how she slept last night. Yang swore she didn't get more than a few hours of sleep. The Infected hanging around outside kept her on edge the entire night.

Yang was too focused on getting Ruby outside the city she hadn't thought about her father and Qrow. After leaving the two of them behind, the sisters backtracked into town, trying to find something to drive. But the hordes were too numerous. There was so many Infected running around, Ruby had almost been grabbed twice. Yang was just glad she was there to get the bastards off of her.

Trying to get out of the city on foot had proved to be complicated. Yang figured she and Ruby couldn't have moved more than a few miles from where they started. The sisters actually hid in the cargo space of a mail truck the first night. The next morning, the pair couldn't move from their hiding place for nearly six hours. Once they managed to get out, sprinting through the streets from cover to cover ate away at their time.

Between the Infected and groups of people fleeing the city, Yang was ready to say this was hell on earth. Most of the retail streets where the fires had begun rendered entire sections of the area to nothing but rubble. Gunshots echoed throughout the days and nights as what Yang guessed were military or police fighting the Infected. It felt like a warzone. If your average theatre of war dealt with flesh-eating freaks.

There was no way they could leave just on foot. At the rate they had been going, Yang and Ruby would be running around this part of the city for the better part of the next week. A car would get them to the Arc's house in an hour.

 _Fuck... How are they doing?_

Yang didn't even want to think about what was going on down there. The Arc's were isolated from what was happening in the city. However, it was possible they could get caught up this too. If it was some disease after all, then an Infected could make their way inside of the house. Yang was also kind of afraid she might show up there and find an empty house. One where the entire family just up and left without the girls. Both situations pretty much spelt a nightmare for Yang.

One thing she could count on was Jaune not trying to come look for her in the city. Marron wouldn't let him pull such a boneheaded move. Yang could also count on Jaune's past encounter with Cardin to give him some reluctance if Marron didn't try to stop the boy. He was smart enough to know the best place for him to be was inside his home, watching over his younger sisters.

However, she could do with some kind words from Jaune or Marron. Too bad the phones were out. Both Ruby and Yang's Scrolls had run out of battery, and there was not a single charging device in sight. The one or two phones they had come across weren't working, either being smashed to pieces or having no signal.

"Hey, Ruby," Yang harshly whispered into her younger sister's ear.

The girl snapped awake, sitting straight up. Zwei reacted the same way, standing up and stretching out his back. Ruby looked around, finding that she wasn't still in a dream or that she woke up in her bed. A disappointed expression took hold over her face, mimicking that of Yang's.

"What time is it," she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Tenish," Yang answered tersely. "How's your head?"

She wasn't sure if Ruby had a concussion or not from the car wreck. Yang had made sure to check on the girl whenever the opportunity arose, but Ruby seemed to be all right. If she had to deal with headaches and the regular symptoms of a concussion, then the two would be stopped dead inside this gas station until she recovered.

"I'm fine, Yang," Ruby said in an almost annoyed tone. "You don't have to keep asking..."

"Yes, I do," Yang replied, angrily pronouncing every syllable. "Don't complain about me checking on you, Rubes! I have to make sure you're all right because Dad is expecting me to get you out of the city!"

Ruby looked towards the ground at the mention of their father. Instead of disappointment, her face now resembled dejection. She was afraid of what might have happened to him and their uncle.

Yang was worried about them too. As much as she wanted to be the supportive big sister that she always was; Yang had to do whatever she could to make sure Ruby was safe and out of the city. So, she couldn't spare a minute to let those thoughts get inside her head. Yang could fret over their fate when she reached the Arcs.

Yang took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Rubes," she said in a calmer tone. "But we need to get moving. Let's try the back door and see if it's clear."

"Okay..."

 **[Conveinence Store]**

Yang stuck her head outside the storage room, surveying the outer chamber. The power was still on, running without pause since the previous night. A series of windows served as the only barrier between the inside of the store and the parking lot outside. Beyond that glass barrier, a few cars were littered here and there; however, Infected moved about this maze with free reign over any available vehicle.

Inside the store itself, things remained neat and orderly. Nothing had been raided or tossed by looters aside from the girls taking shelter here. The only damage came from Yang and Ruby's attempt to barricade the front door to the shop. It remained locked with a refrigerator pushed in front of it.

"Okay," Yang announced quietly, finding the nearest light switch and shutting it off. "Things look clear from up here." She turned around to look at Ruby. "Stay away from the windows and keep Zwei quiet."

 _I know Dad trained him, but I can't have that dog getting us killed..._

 _Need to find a weapon... Those things can shrug off gunshots._

When running through the city, Yang noticed something peculiar about the Infected. A cop unloaded an entire clip into an Infected girl, but she kept running at him. Yang definitely didn't stick around to see the aftermath; however, she now knew the Infected were pretty tough. So, a nice solid piece of metal or something sharp would be nothing more than a benefit. At least to act as something to stun the Infected.

"Yang," Ruby called out. "Maybe we can make a muzzle for him?"

 _Good idea, Rubes..._

"Yeah," Yang agreed. "Don't make it too tight."

Ruby got to work, removing some tape from a rack. Zwei sat there diligently, cocking his head from side to side. He looked at Ruby with a look that spelt confusion as he didn't know what was going on.

Likewise, Yang looked around for something she could use to beat a person's skull in. A gas station wouldn't have anything too fancy. This was a family-owned shop, so there may have been a gun here. However, the person who abandoned the store may have taken it with them.

Going behind the counter, Yang pulled open some drawers, digging around the random objects the employees must have thrown in here. Lo and behold, there was a nine-millimetre casing inside a small drawer near the counter. Just a casing without the bullet inside of it. Another random object someone may have picked up and tossed inside. A few packs of cigarettes were scattered among the drawers along with some screwdrivers.

As she continued digging through the drawers, Yang found something she could use. A small pocket knife with a red handle. What made this better was it being a multi-tool. A set of pliers and screwdrivers could be useful for the girls in this situation.

 _Fuck yeah!_

She slid it into her back pocket, continuing to rummage through some of the other cupboards. However, she wasn't coming up with anything useful. Unless she wanted to use pens to gouge out their eyes.

"Yang..." The mousy voice of Ruby drew the blonde out of focus. She looked to her left to see her younger sister hiding behind a shelf, holding Zwei's mouth shut. The dog growled even with his owner's hands over the corgi's snout.

Yang turned to her right to see an Infected standing against the window. The man was looking inside the store. The moment she laid eyes on him, Yang ducked beneath the counter, only peeking over the edge to keep watch on him. The Infected's lips were pulled back into a toothy snarl, drooling all over his shirt and face. Blood dripped down from a head wound he received, coating most of his face in the sticky gore.

 _Fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck!_

She didn't know if the Infected saw anything. He may have been distracted by his own reflection. It was bright enough outside the light may have been preventing him from seeing into the store. Yang reached up with one of her hands, waving it from side to side rapidly. The Infected didn't react to it, only turning around and wandering off.

 _Fuck me..._

Yang cupped her face, breathing a sigh of relief into her palms. The blonde's poor heart began thumping in her ears, pushing blood throughout her body in response to the adrenalin coursing through her veins. Not the closest encounter, but it was one of her more startling incidents with the Infected. Just enough to get the blood flowing.

 _Got to get out of here..._

The blonde poked her head over the counter to see Ruby. She pointed towards another room in the back of the store, signalling for the ravenette to head there. Yang followed Ruby inside, shutting the heavy steel door behind her.

"Fuck, that was close," Yang cursed, locking the door behind her. Once finished, she turned around to get a look at their new setting.

This room was a utility and storage room for the gas station. Whatever machinery called this place home let out a gentle hum as they performed their functions. It was a pleasant sound that let Yang relax for a moment. Enough to take a look around for some sort of weapon.

"I'm sorry," Ruby apologised meekly, working on getting Zwei's muzzle ready. "I didn't see him standing there..."

 _Stop it, Rubes..._

"Don't worry about it," Yang deflected, changing the subject. "He couldn't see inside, so we're all right. Just tell me when you're ready, and we'll go out back." Ruby nodded in response, pulling out a length of electrical tape and wrapping it around Zwei's snout.

As Ruby continued her work, Yang began making sure they were truly alone. The sister's had explored this area briefly during their stay, locking the back door and checking all auxiliary exits. Unless somebody busted into the store through a window or had a key, then no one should be inside. A person would be preferable over an Infected any day.

 _Okay... Need to find a weapon... Then a car or bike... Some food would be nice too._

Coming around a corner after walking through a short hallway, Yang looked over the loading dock, seeing a few scattered crates laying about. All were opened, containing a few bottles of whiskey and various other spirits. However, nothing to eat or readily drink on hand. Yang didn't want to risk stepping back inside the store for something to snack on.

Ignoring the contents of the boxes, Yang checked the back door, finding it to be still locked. A quick once over across the entire room, which was only about fifteen feet by twenty feet, told Yang the rest of it was in the clear. There was nowhere for anyone to hide in here unless they stuffed themselves inside of a crate.

As she finished up her survey, Yang turned around to head back to Ruby. However, she noticed something peculiar about her new viewpoint. Underneath one of the crate's lids was a piece of metal. Turning over the wooden board, Yang found a prybar.

 _Halle-fucking-lujah!_

It was a black length of steel longer than her forearm by six inches. Most of the piece had a hexagonal shape, tapering down to a pointed nub on one end. The other side was a hooked head made for something... Yang wasn't sure what it's exact purpose was. However, given the boxes, someone was using it to pry them open.

 **Rolling head prybar:**

 **Weight: ~3kg**

 **Length: ~1.6ft**

 **Species of prybar used for pulling seals or various other means that require something to be pulled apart.**

It wasn't a gun, but it was something. Honestly, Yang would probably be better at handling this piece over a handgun. After all, guns were Ruby and Jaune's domain. This only required brute force and simple direction over the finesse needed for a firearm. Yang likey.

"Ruby," Yang called out to her younger sister. "Found something, get out here!"

The girl in question cautiously stuck her head out from behind a corner. Once Ruby found her sister to be the only occupant of the loading dock, she stepped out with Zwei in hand. The poor corgi's snout was wrapped in a layer of electrical tape with a cloth keeping the tape off his skin. Yang felt terrible for doing that to him, but it was necessary.

Ruby eyed the prybar for a moment before looking back up to Yang. "I was really hoping for a car," she confessed, readjusting her grip to better carry Zwei.

"Sorry, Rubes," Yang replied, offering her a weak smile. "Kind of a let down for me too. No food either." She looked to the back door. "But we should get going. I don't want to be looking around for a car in the middle of the night."

Ruby nodded, giving Yang confirmation of her agreement. The blonde turned around and opened the door slowly. With every click or squeal the hinges let out, Yang cringed painfully, afraid for how loud this damn door was. Comparable to a floorboard creaking in the middle of the night.

As the door finally opened enough for Yang to see outside. The intensity of the incoming sunlight blinded the poor girl. She shielded her eyes while they adjusted, giving her a few seconds of clarity to look around. The glare made it difficult to make out minuscule details, but Yang was allowed to get the big picture.

She glanced to her left, finding nobody was out here. Yang took another step outside, looking past the steel door in her way. The other direction was perfectly clear with only a few wrecked cars down the street. This side of the building faced a wooded area sheltering a creak.

There was not a single Infected in sight. The perfect opportunity to make their move. Yang turned around, giving the signal to Ruby that they would be booking it to anywhere else but here.

 **[An hour or two later]**

Yang crept silently through a small alleyway, focusing on the exit before her. An Infected stood between her and the street. Her back facing the blonde, entire body spasming violently jerking the Infected's arms or other limbs as if it were having a seizure. Yang observed the Infected carefully, making sure not a peep came from her or the ravenette behind her.

It was weird watching the Infected when they weren't chasing you. One could mistake them for a regular person. At least from a distance. Up close, which Yang had multiple exclusive interviews with them; the Infected were something else entirely. Her father was undoubtedly correct about them not being people anymore.

A simple beat down wouldn't do it. If they could take an entire handgun clip to the chest and still keep coming, then you would need to aim for something a little more sensitive. Bashing in their braincase would be the only suitable option. At least Tai and Qrow's guns worked fine when aiming for a headshot.

 _Bashing in some girl's skull with a pry bar... Works fine on those crime TV shows... This is so fucking stupid, but she's in my way!_

Yang waved her hand back to Ruby, telling her to stay put. Taking the pry bar in both hands, she approached the Infected taking great care as to where her steps landed. The trash on the floor contained some glass, which would compromise their cover if Yang happened to scuffle her shoes through it.

With a soft breath, Yang stood to her full height. The Infected was a mere two or three feet from her. She dropped the pry bar into a position resembling the tail guard. Her chosen target was just behind the ear. Hitting that would do the trick.

Gripping the metal hunk with all her strength, Yang sprung forth with the hooked end facing the Infected. She slammed it into the side of the Infected's skull, letting out a crack as bone shattered with the spiked tip breaking through the skin. The Infected's head wrenched to the side going with the motion of the force behind the pry bar. It fell to its side, landing on the pavement without a sound coming from the body.

Yang put her shoe on the Infected's neck, attempting to give herself leverage as she pulled the pry bar out of the skull it was buried in. Pushing forth then pulling back, Yang tore the spike out of the wound she created, causing blood and grey matter to spill out from the gouge. This action created a sound, which Yang could only compare to tearing a turkey leg off of a freshly cooked bird. Yang had to force a gag back down her throat lest she vomited all over the place.

This was the first Infected she had killed. Yang wasn't sure how her dad and uncle could do this a few days ago. It must have been the adrenaline. They were experienced soldiers who had been around the block a few times. But why did it come so easy for Yang? Maybe it was the remaining lizard brain everyone had going on?

"That's so gross," Ruby whispered, stepping to Yang's side.

Yang looked down to her right, realising her younger sister was staring at a corpse. "Hey, you don't need to be looking at that," she barked, turning Ruby away from the body.

"It's not like the worst thing we've seen," Ruby countered, sounding very casual about this.

The worst part about it though, Ruby was right. It was true, painfully so. They had both seen these flesh-eating monsters tear people apart and couldn't do anything except watch. Neither were ever exposed enough to be desensitised to this violence, so Yang couldn't help feeling as though she wanted to preserve some semblance of Ruby's innocence.

Yang took a sharp breath through her nose. "All right," she conceded, wiping her mouth with the palm of her hand. "We'll talk about this later. Now's not the time..."

 _We're going to sit down and have a_ _ **long**_ _talk after we get to Jaune's house..._

She turned and continued heading down the street. Dust and ash remained in the air from the fires, dropping their visibility to around fifty or so feet. No fires remained burning, only embers smouldered with the charred remains of the brick buildings.

Ruby kept up with her sister as much as her little legs could. The elder of the two kept her pry bar at the ready in case she encountered another Infected. Which reminded her about something...

There was not a single Infected on this road. It was actually pretty empty. The two sisters returned to the area where they abandoned Qrow's car. Aside from most of the buildings being reduced to piles of rubble and the dozen or so wrecked cars, it was rather uneventful. The lack of Infected Yang could see, however, was nervewracking.

 _Why aren't there any Infected? I saw them eating people before... Would they leave bodies if there was another person to chase around? Probably why there isn't any on this street. Those crowds would draw the Infected from one area to another. Gunshots too... They follow sound... I know that already. They can see too... All of those people running out of the city drew the Infected to them, or the Infected went deeper into Vale. There would be more people and more things going on there..._

It was easier to move around when Yang could see them. With the number of corpses strewn about, she was afraid one might try to get up and attack the pair. Or the sisters would turn into an alley and find a dozen or so Infected chilling out.

Another thing Yang had noticed was the smell. The smell of blood. It hung in the air as a very minor scent as most of what Yang could smell was smoke. Near their feet, the two girls march through a mixture of what Yang could tell was ash mixed with the crimson gore. The dark stains all over the ground had a light dusting, creating a form of concrete. Any corpses strewn about had this same coating over them, masking their skin as a pale white.

With these bodies, the amount of carrion in the area began attracting vultures or crows. The birds swooped down, feasting upon the fresh corpses with glee. Yang couldn't look at them, fearing she would just bend over and expel the contents of her stomach. She could hear Ruby behind her, trying to breathe deeply in the hopes of staving off her nausea.

Attempting to focus her mind on something else, Yang noticed a dozen feet away, there was a car in the centre of the road. It was abandoned with the driverside door open. The vehicle seemed to be in an okayish condition, albeit a pretty old sedan. The body looked as though it had been through the wringer. Just the average car a high schooler might pick up as their first car ever.

Yang nodded her head over to Ruby, who took the cue and immediately dashed over to the vehicle. She hid behind the passenger door while Yang took to the drivers. Peeking inside, the sedan seemed to be empty, meaning nothing nasty sitting inside waiting for someone to plop themselves down.

She slid into the car, looking for any keys or another weapon.

 _Oh, give mama something good... She needs you to be her ticket outta here!_

Yang pulled open the glove box, finding the usual registration and insurance documents to be there. A lot of receipts for fast food joints were stuffed in there for an unknown reason. Even an unpaid speeding ticket that would probably never be taken care of. Continuing deeper inside, Yang found a black box hidden under everything else.

 _What's this?_

She opened it to find a foam pad with nothing else contained within. Must have been a gun case. Yang saw one her dad kept inside his nightstand. However, why would they not continue with their car and choose to abandon it? There had to be a reason why.

"Maybe they got stuck," Yang whispered to herself, closing the box and tossing it back into the glovebox.

Getting back on track, Yang looked in the centre console to see if the keys were jammed in there. The driver wouldn't have bothered to take their keys with them if they just grabbed their gun and hopped out. The situation wouldn't have called for it. They had no use for the vehicle and weren't expecting to get it back.

 _Nothing here... unless I want candy wrappers..._

She looked to her left, finding the keys were still inside the ignition. They were turned enough to where the car could have been started with one click to the right.

 _Of course, they were. Should have been obvious in the first place!_

Yang grabbed the key and turned it as far as it would go. The engine sounded like it was trying its best to turn over and start running for her. However, the lights came on for a short two seconds before the engine no longer made sounds. Yang turned the keys back to the left and then all the way to the right, attempting to get the sedan going again.

 _Come on you big bitch! Don't you do this to me..._

The car made a little sputter from its engine before dying completely. Yang tried it several more times to no avail. The feeling of anger welled up inside the girl. She slammed her hand into the steering wheel out of anger, letting a mix between a furious grunt and a cry escape her throat.

 _Fucking fuck... Fuck you!_

"Yang, the battery's dead," Ruby spoke up, trying to be the voice of reason here. The girl was also attempting to avoid her sister's wrath. "Let's go look for another one..."

 _Calm down, Yang... Control your temper... You need to have a clear head..._

The blonde took a deep breath. "Fine," Yang conceded, getting out of the car. However, a shuffle from behind drew the blonde's attention.

 _Fuck..._

Yang could see her. It was another Infected. The faunus shuffled around aimlessly, looking for stimuli to go after. She was about twenty feet away from the sisters. Yang was sure she hadn't seen the two yet. The blonde's heartrate began skyrocketing as she attempted to formulate a plan of attack here.

 _Run, fight, or hide..._

Ruby ducked into the back seat, concealing herself behind the front passenger's chair. Her size allowed the girl snuggly fit between the seats. Yang quietly grabbed her pry bar, turning enough to allow her to throw herself from the car if need be. The vehicle gave the sister's perfect cover as the Infected was directly behind it.

 _Can't let her trap us inside the car... More Infected in the area might join her... Best to deal with this one on her own, and then run..._

The risks were significant with this fight. Yang knew how to deal with the Infected. Watching her father and uncle do that was enough to learn the basics. Yang was strong enough to shove full-grown Infected adults off balance and even knock them over completely. So, a single Infected, while still dangerous, was manageable so long as Yang was careful.

Stepping out of the car, Yang whistled lightly to get the Infected's attention. She turned to the blonde, growling like a rabid animal before sprinting at Yang. The Infected cleared the distance in less than two seconds. Yang had already prepared her swing, cocking the pry bar behind her head like a baseball bat.

Withholding any restraint, Yang cracked this Infected in the side of the head with all her strength. The force behind the blow sent the woman toppling over, knocking into the car door. Blood smeared across the door panel from an unseen source. She landed face-first on the ground just at Yang's feet.

The Infected groaned before mumbling something unintelligible. What startled Yang was that it sounded like the Infected was trying to say something. It was feeling pain.

 _Fuck..._

It genuinely startled the girl to learn this. That there was still a person inside this shell. However, as Yang stared down at the body, two things came to mind, which prevented her from sympathising with it. This Infected was going to try killing both her and Ruby, and it would have done it without any remorse whatsoever. So, the next move came easy to the blonde.

Without another thought, Yang grabbed the Infected by the collar and put her head where the car door was supposed to shut. Taking hold of the heavy steel door with both hands, Yang slammed the door home. The Infected let out another grunt, telling Yang the job wasn't done yet.

 _You're mine now bitch!_

Yang pulled the door back and slammed it home. The Infected let out another grunt.

 _Look's like I ain't done!_

She pulled the door back, twisting her upper body to give it some more force.

 _Fuck you... You raggedy bitch!_

She kept slamming the door on the Infected's head until the girl no longer made a sound. Yang was furiously applying every ounce of her strength to kill it. By the fourth repetition, Yang heard a crunch come from below. Blood spilt out from the gap and onto the pavement.

" _Yang_ ," a mousy squeak came from inside the car.

The girl in question looked up to find Ruby sitting inside. It only took Yang a short glance to calm her fury and refocus her priorities. The girl wasted no time, grabbing Ruby and leaving the car behind. Any Infected in the area would have heard the ruckus.

 **[Another Hour of Walking]**

Yang poked her head around a corner, gazing upon the sight before her. A small group of Infected, about half a dozen or so in number. Too many to handle with Yang and Ruby by themselves. Yang wouldn't even try if she had to watch Ruby's back. They needed a diversion.

"Yang..." Ruby whispered, handing the blonde an object.

She looked down at her palm, finding it to be a chunk from a brick. Probably one of the many laying around here. There was plenty to choose from. Ruby grabbed whatever was closest. It was nice to know they were on the same wavelength.

Yang felt the weight of the apple-sized hunk, feeling it to be slightly heavier than your average baseball. It wasn't enough to make it unthrowable. She just needed to provide a little more oomph to get it going. Which meant, needing to run a short distance for some lead-up.

She stood halfway up, crouch walking a few feet away from the building they were hiding behind. Yang was going to heave it over the roof and onto the other street from behind cover. The Infected would hear the rock hit a car and then go after it.

 _Please be stupid enough to chase after it..._

Taking two steps in a half sprint, Yang threw the rock with a heavy over-handed motion, allowing the hunk to sail over the building and out of view. A crack from the other side of the barrier, sounding like a window being smashed caused the Infected to run to that area. Their growls and snarls heading away from the open intersection to a more shielded location.

 _Oh, fuck... Time to run..._

Yang booked it across the street, running in a low crouch across the distance. Ruby followed right behind, mimicking her older sister albeit compensating for the dog. Each carefully placed their steps like they did before, hoping to not attract attention to themselves.

Yang glanced back into the intersection, seeing the Infected were crowded around a vehicle. They didn't seem to be onto their rouse, mindlessly searching for more stimuli to react to. She didn't spend any longer studying them, ducking her head back down to where she couldn't be seen. Yang finally got behind another building as did Ruby, both taking deep breaths while the adrenaline flushed from their systems.

 _Just like one of those stealth games... Fuck... I know how much it sucks to be in their place now._

"Oh boy," Yang exclaimed in a whisper, getting back up to move a little farther down the street. Another hundred feet or so, Yang turned around and followed up with, "How are you doing Rubes?"

Ruby readjusted her arms to better carry Zwei. However, the look on her face was on resembling heavy exertion. The girl was obviously struggling to carry the dog at this point. Yang was surprised Ruby managed to carry him all the way here. Her little arms must have been on fire.

"A little tired," she said, not complaining, but Yang knew what she wanted.

"Hmm," Yang hummed for a second. "How 'bout you take a break for a second, and I'll go look around for a bag to carry Zwei in?"

"Thanks," Ruby replied, setting Zwei down and taking a seat.

"Yeah, just keep your head down, and come find me if you see anything, all right," Yang cheerfully requested, starting to scope out the area.

They had reached another intersection near a bridge. This bridge went over a large canal running through this part of town. Lots of cars were nearby, mostly abandoned like the ones before, but seemed to be in good condition. Yang thought this would be an excellent area for some scavenging.

So long as their _friends_ didn't come to join them.

The bridge which led across the canal was obstructed by a police barricade. Said barricade was busted through by what looked to be a van. Most likely, someone's desperate attempt to get across. A nice line through the collection of vehicles told Yang it was a large one at that.

Once the opening had been created, everyone had left their vehicles here and probably continued on foot. Too bad. They could have made it across if they hadn't all tried to stuff themselves into a two-lane bridge at the same time.

 _Damn... This could have been us. We showed up late to the party and were barely able to back out when things got wild..._

A large number of corpses on the bridge also told Yang of another story. The Infected pursued these people as they were heading across the bridge as well. Not only were they stuck, but they also had to deal with the Infected. It looked like over a hundred people bit the dust here as the cops gunned down Infected and the Infected munched on everyone who got within an arm's length.

Yang walked across the rooves of the cars, trying to get to the path cut through the traffic jam. With them packed together like sardines, if sardines were two-ton hunks of steel and aluminium, it made a lovely walkway for the girl. She was able to keep herself off the ground and had a height advantage.

As she grew closer to the bridge, Yang could smell blood once again. That sickly metallic scent on the wind made the girl shield her nose from the air around her. She was starting to get used to it, but the concentration was much greater in this location versus any others. It made Yang want to be sick at just a hint of the stuff.

 _Let's get this over with..._

Yang hopped down from the last car, landing in the open path. A crunch of glass from beneath her feet emanated outwards. Dozens of car parts from those vehicles tossed to the side littered the area. It was a mess. Like one of the big accidents you saw in professional races except nowhere nearly as fast-paced.

She spun around, looking a car that wasn't completely wrecked or flipped over. However, most of the broken down vehicles were in the way of the others which were in better condition. This made it almost impossible to get something that was likely still gassed up and could run. She would then have to spend an hour they didn't have to move the wrecked car out of the way. So, this area was likely going to be a bust.

 _My fucking luck today..._

Finishing up her survey, Yang looked towards the bridge to see if there was something on the other side. That's when she saw it. Tucked under a wrecked car, there was a bike. The most beautiful thing in the world to Yang right now. Not some mountain bike or something you got for your tenth birthday from grandma. A literal motorcycle.

 _You beautiful bitch..._ She almost had a tear in her eye.

Yang bolted over to where the bike was, dragging it out from underneath the car-pavement sandwich it inhabited. Setting the four hundred pound bike back on its wheels, she began inspecting its condition.

It was your standard sports bike model, albeit heavily modified. The engine had been supped up beyond whatever factory model this came from. Along with the beefier engine, the body and pretty much everything else had been altered. The wheelbase wasn't anything close to what Yang had known, being more like a bike from Tron. She was ready to consider it to be a completely custom build that someone did in their garage.

Yang reached down to inspect the damage on the right flank. The yellow paint was heavily damaged. A lot of it being scraped off on one side, exposing the steel and fibreglass underneath. The wheels looked to be all right, though. With how robust they were, the tires would have been able to withstand some punishment.

 _You poor girl, someone set you down pretty hard. What happened to your owner? The keys are still in the ignition too._

Yang turned the key over to start the bike, kicking her foot down simultaneously. Without any struggle, the motorcycle roared to life, purring like a lion. The blonde shut it off before anything could locate the sound, realising those Infected were still nearby.

 _Fuck yes!_

Yang looked over to where Ruby should have been. The younger of the pair was watching her older sister intently, keeping an eye out for any Infected. A hand wave signalled Ruby to come over. The younger girl grabbed the dog and followed the path Yang laid out, running over to where she stood.

"Oh my gosh, we finally got something," Ruby asked, speaking so rapidly, Yang could barely understand her. "We need a bag for Zwei! I can't carry him and hold onto you at the same time!"

"Shh!" Yang held up her hands, shutting Ruby up. "Okay, I'll go look around for a bag. Maybe the guy who owned the bike left one behind?"

 _No cases to carry stuff on the sides, so the guy had to have a backpack. Nobody leaving the city on a bike would go without one._

"Got it... I'll stay here and keep watch!"

Yang turned around, peeking under the car to see if it was under there. However, there was no bag nor the owner the bike belonged too. A lot of broken glass and what looked like fluids from a busted engine.

If whoever was riding the bike got knocked over and caused that much damage, the rider would have slid some distance. Yang got up and looked around the area to see where he may have gone. Any telltale signs of a dude sliding across the pavement were gone by now. So, Yang had to be a little creative in her detective work.

 _Okay..._ Yang pointed up the street where the bike came from. _Guy comes racing through here on his way out of the city. Get's knocked over by another person or swerves trying to avoid them._ She traced her finger along the path the bike might have taken, ending up where the bike was when she found it. _Falls off bike and slides for a couple feet off to the right._

Yang's finger rested on a piece of cloth hanging from a guard rail. It might have been from the guy when he fell off his bike. However, without a backpack on the ground, Yang suspected he took it with him when falling into the canal.

 _He might be dead... I have to see if he's got a bag on him though..._

"Ruby," Yang called out, turning to face her sister. "Stay here a moment, I'll be back."

Yang walked over to the guard rail and looked over it. She was right. There was a body lying face down on the shore of the canal. It was wearing a leather jacket and a motorcycle helmet. What piqued Yang's interest was the large backpack still attached to him.

Climbing over the rail, carefully, Yang dropped into the basin without issue. There was a set of stairs leading back up to the road, so she wasn't trapped down here. With a few short steps, Yang was upon the body, inspecting before even attempting to do anything about the bag.

 _Okay... This is really gross._

Both of his arms were broken. One contorted in a manner that it wasn't supposed to, facing backwards at a forty-five-degree angle. The other was snapped in two with a bone sticking out of the jacket. His legs seemed all right, although with pieces of clothing were torn from his fall. However, he looked to be dead, not breathing in anyway Yang could see.

 _Please don't get up..._

Yang reached over his body, grabbing the buckles holding the backpack on him. She snapped both off and pulled the bag to her chest. Her heart racing a million miles a second, fearing for a jumpscare that would give her a heart attack.

As Yang turned around to go back up to Ruby, she heard something come from the body. She looked back once to see his head move just barely.

"Help... I-I can't move..."

"Oh fuck," Yang cursed, taking a step back and falling onto her butt.

 _Oh fuck... that guy's not dead..._

"Please..."

 _I can't do anything to help you..._

"I'm sorry!"

Yang didn't waste a second, standing up and dumping out the contents of the bag. Once empty, she turned and raced back up the hill without a second glance.

* * *

 **Next week will be Monster's are just men like you and I.**


	10. Day 17: Part One

**All right ladies and gents! I finally got this chapter out!**

 **So, enjoy! This will be a two part chapter because I couldn't leave it as a whole piece due to events that will be transpiring.**

 **However, I want to run a story idea by you guys!**

 **So, The Second Great War has left Atlas in control of most of Remnant. They have propped up fascist puppet regimes in Vacuo and Vale. Jaune Arc is an ordinary soldier of the Valish vichy-esque regime just serving like his father had. A few events transpire, and he joins the revolution trying to liberate Vale and the rest of the world.**

 **I think it could be a White Knight/Lancaster. But the pairings will remain open.**

 **My inspiration for this idea is Guilty Crown because I have been watching that recently and the idea popped up in my head. I've actually had a lot of fun designing this scenario.**

 **My other idea is an isekai-esque scenario where Jaune gets dropped into the same world as You've got to use silver, but more fantasy and less Witcher. And as all isekai protagonists have to be, Jaune will be overpowered.**

 **That will be a Dragonslayer only fic.**

 **Also, check out To Those Who Survived The Fall. I put out a part of the first chapter to see what people thought about.**

* * *

 **[Day Seventeen: Two in the Morning]**

The kids were gathered on the couch, staring at the television with bated breath. None dared to speak, instead preferring to focus on what was broadcasted. The atmosphere of the room felt overwhelming as if one word would cause everything around them to crumble. Each of the teenagers held onto something in the vain attempt it would bring them relief from this tense mood. Whether it be a blanket or another person, it did not matter to them.

On the flatscreen, Lisa Lavender was sitting behind a smooth glass table. The woman looking to have aged years over a few days. Her seemingly youthful looks replaced by the clear signs of stress. The grimace painted on her face giving the impression she was exhausted. Her hair and clothes a mess due to probably having not left the news station in several days. Jaune only wondered how long had it been since she last slept.

"The latest report from RVCDC and military officials have claimed the outbreak has spread to all corners of Vale," she began, attempting to keep her tone confident despite whatever she was reading. "It is no longer centred around major cities as hundreds of small towns and isolated villages across the nation are now reporting signs of Infected individuals roaming the streets and attacking people. Many of these counties have found their police departments overwhelmed by calls relating to home invasions. First responders almost always discovering the source of these disturbances as an Infected attack." Lisa flipped her notes to a new page. "Another report shared with us by journalists from the VBC has found the Infected pursuing those who evacuated the cities. Footage from a bystander showing the chaos as hundreds of Infected descend upon those caught in traffic has corroborated this report. Those attempting to flee major population centres should avoid major roadways if at all possible. The greater quantity of people and sound from their vehicles has been prompting these attacks."

Lisa turned to the last page of her notes. Looking at her eyes, one could tell she was becoming visually upset. "As of this morning, every nation on Remnant has now confirmed symptoms of the Infection. General James Ironwood of Atlas has declared martial law and ordered the mass deployment of soldiers to every city on Solitas and northern Anima. Vacuoun officials have reported mass civilian deaths from outbreaks of the Infection in the capital, Shade, and other major population centres. The capital of Mistral has fallen. High-ranking officials and the military have abandoned the city as they were overwhelmed by the sheer number of Infected." Lisa paused for several seconds to collect herself. "Officials are now claiming their estimates of the Infected numbers from two days ago are no longer accurate. In fact, officials are claiming their estimates were too low. It is now suspected that just under ten per cent of the entire population in Vale itself has been infected. No longer just thousands, but possibly millions are Infected or are on their way to turning. The RVCDC has promised to continue working to find the source of the outbreak." Lisa took one last breath.

"We at the VNN will continue to broadcast the latest news as we get more updates on the situation. For now, this is Lisa Lavender, signing off..."

The broadcast ended there.

"Holy shit," Vi cursed, breaking the silence. "Atlas too..."

Atlas was the last kingdom of Remnant to declare a state of emergency. Yesterday, the leaders of Vacuo and Mistral finally confirmed it was spreading across their countries. Accompanying the news, videos of more bodies lining the streets and hordes of Infected sprung up across social media sites not just in Vale itself.

The Infection was everywhere. Out on the street. In the marketplace. Coming through your window.

Jaune didn't want to say he was surprised to find out it had spread across the world, but he really was. The boy expected Atlas to rid their population of the Infected, seeing how the rest of the world was literally succumbing to a fast-acting disease. But their hubris probably didn't allow them to see the Infected cropping up until it was too late. The Atlesian government tended to ignore certain problems, thinking the systems they had in place were foolproof and playing out for the big picture.

However, a single day passed, and there were already mass deaths along with Mistral falling. Jaune couldn't see any disease-causing that much destruction in such a short amount of time. He already suspected this outbreak of having been going around for a while now, but there was something else missing. Jaune needed to figure out what that last piece of the puzzle was.

"FUCK, man," Dante shouted loudly, getting up from the couch. "Dude, my parents are in Atlas right now!" His expression showing he was visibly distressed. A sharp contrast to his ordinarily confident appearance. The man was on the verge of tears right now.

"Hey-hey-hey," Marron calmly spoke up, grabbing Dante's hand and sitting him back down. She looked directly into his eyes, ensuring his undivided attention was on her. Marron's calm and reassuring nature cooling the fire starting within the boy. "Have you been able to call them yet?"

Dante shook his head, cupping his hands over his face and groaning into his palms. Jaune could clearly see he was trying to bury his emotions and be the strong guy. Both men had been handling this situation in their own ways, but it finally hit Dante for the first time. Jaune had already been there and done that.

"There's not much we can do from here," Ren insisted, jumping into the conversation. The boy's expression, seemingly in deep contemplation as to whatever they could do to improve their situation. Everybody else glanced over at him with either an annoyed or confused look. Ren realised this and continued to his point. "We've been trying to call everybody, and nothing's working! We can't move until things calm down either. Besides, every city in Atlas is fortified to the point where they're more bunker and less city. If your parents are somewhere with a lot of soldiers and supplies, they have a better chance of contacting us. We have barely any connection to the CCT, so we really don't have that option." Ren stood up and looked around the room. "What does that leave us with?"

"With fuck all, I guess," Dante replied, leaning back onto the couch and falling into the cushions. His tone returning to normal but sounded like he was sick of this.

Jaune couldn't help but agree. This wasn't the type of scenario where the main protagonists find a cure for the disease and save the world. That was up to the scientists to figure out what this thing was, then hand it over to somebody else to develop a vaccine. Even then, it could take years for that to happen. At least from Jaune's basic knowledge of the matter. Sourced from plenty of internet videos to satisfy one's two in the morning curiosity.

"Not as eloquently as I would put it, but yeah," Ren agreed, coming around the back of the armchair he had been sitting in. A quick glance down and a sigh shooting out from his lips. "We have nothing..."

"However, we shouldn't give up on trying to call anybody," Jaune followed up immediately. He was going to make it clear what the status quo should be. It may have been fruitless unless there was a signal, but that was the only thing they could hope to do. "If we can even get a minute or two with our family members, we can let them know we're all right. If they're safe, they can tell us where to go, or they can send someone to get us."

Looking at everything going on around them, Jaune found this was going to be their only option. Because sitting around and giving up on the idea entirely was exactly like giving up on their friends and family. It was better to have tried calling them over and over again to no avail than to wait for them to do the same.

"Jaune..." Nora finally spoke up. "...if they could call us, our friends and your parents would have. None of them would waste any time, waiting for you to call them."

Jaune's spine stiffened slightly at the response. Nora recognised this, suddenly realising what she said may have sounded a little cold. Everyone else knew the implications of her statement, isolating themselves to their thoughts. Jaune himself felt a tinge of anger rise from within his stomach, forcing the boy to still himself from overt action.

"I know that," Jaune raised his voice. Not enough for it to be considered a shout but speaking to the girl in a harsh tone. "Maybe they think the same thing is going on with our phones! But if we have the chance to get a call through, even if they don't pick it up, it will let them know we're still trying to reach them!"

Every day, the chances of someone picking up became less and less as time moved forward. If this outbreak kept getting worse in the foreseeable future, damage to the telecommunications network could possibly be irreparable. Their best bet was to try calling as much as possible before that event took place.

"Jaune has a point," Ren said, siding with the blonde. Then he looked over at his friend. "So, does Nora... But the fact is, it gives us something to do for now. Until they start bombing Vale, we have a chance to get back into contact with our friends and family."

The moment he brought up the final subject, people's expressions grew more confused then they had before. Nobody had even considered the idea until now. Everybody surrounding the coffee table started itching to jump in and give their two cents on the matter.

"Hold up," Vi stepped in, speaking over the other members of the table. "What are you talking about? Where did bombing Vale come from?"

Several others were about to attempt asking their own questions, but Ren stood to his full height, gesturing for everyone to calm down. He strutted around the chair he had been standing behind and took the stage in front of the TV.

"Okay... just give me a minute to get through this," Ren said, bringing a hand up to his lips. He took a few seconds to think of what he had to say. "You heard what they said on the news?" Everyone nodded their heads. "They said that ten per cent of the population might be infected with this disease or have gone insane from it! That's a lot of people... But nobody has decided to use nukes yet or even dropping bombs in the streets, right?"

 _Holy shit... I get it!_

"The reason they haven't tried bombing the cities is because the military thinks they can fight this," Jaune suggested excitedly, shooting up from his seat and clasping his hands together.

"Exactly," Ren replied, mimicking Jaune's tone. "They wouldn't risk destroying the CCT if it couldn't be helped. The military uses satellites for everything, but the CCT is too important. It would take months to rebuild if they damaged it, cutting off Vale from the rest of the world. Bombing that area or the rest of Vale would be a last resort."

The idea had its merit. The military would try to regroup somewhere safe and plan something to take back the city. It would make more sense to capture the most strategic areas in Vale and use them. Hospitals or any places where a base can be established. If they had decided Vale was totally lost, then there would be no point in trying to preserve the CCT as it would be too costly to hold.

"But wouldn't it take... like... a few weeks for the military to get ready for something like that," Marron asked, leaning back into a cushion. "I think Dad said most of Vale's tanks and vehicles aren't anywhere close to the capital."

"Probably," Jaune agreed. "Vale hasn't been preparing for war, so everything would be used for training and locked up." He snapped his fingers three times, coming up with something else to say. "Actually, Atlas is the only Kingdom that's even ready for something like this."

 _Probably why they started deploying soldiers so quickly... It's not a war against another Kingdom, but it's close enough._

'Yeah," Vi chimed in. "But since this is a disease, soldiers would have to wear suits to protect themselves. Blood can get in your mouth or eyes... We don't even know if it's airborne! So, they wouldn't take the chance to get infected."

"And that stretches out the time needed to prepare," Ren continued the thought, leaning against a nearby wall. "That's even if they want to take back the city by force! The military could just play the waiting game..."

Silence fell back into place once again. It wasn't from any shock factor, but just from a lack of anything to say. The conversation died right at that moment. Any idea someone would throw out there would just be pure speculation on their part. Everyone seemed to agree on that.

The tense mood just lightened enough to give everyone some breathing room. Jaune still hated it, however. He would have preferred there be a heated argument over this uncomfortable lull.

"So, does anybody want to do anything," Nora spoke up, sounding drained and not her usual bubbly self. "I don't feel like going to sleep right now..." She pulled her knees up to her chest, clutching them close to her body.

 _Me too..._

"Put on a movie maybe," Marron suggested, unsure of her idea.

"Yeah, that sounds-"

Jaune was cut off by a noise coming from outside. The sound of footsteps approaching the house. Everyone scrambled to find cover or grab something that could be used as a weapon. Vi grabbed Rouge and Blanche and pushed them out of the room. Ren stood on one side of the doorway, covering the entrance. Jaune stood against the door, holding it shut in preparation for someone to come charging at it.

 _Fuck... Please don't let this be an Infected!_

What sounded like two pairs of shoes clicking against the wooden porch stepped up to the front door. Their sprint cutting down to a full stop far enough away to pull the screen door open. A voice came from the opposite side of the wooden barricade, urging for one of the pair to do something.

 _*Tap**Tap**Tap*_

" _IS SOMEBODY HERE_ ," a voice shouted from the other side of the door. Their voice registering an urgency that extended beyond mere fear, but desperation. " _PLEASE OPEN UP!_ "

"Oh my God, that's Yang!"

Jaune went to unlock the door but was cut off by Marron. Without warning, she bumped him out of the way and threw the door open, allowing Ruby and Yang to spill through the opening. Jaune's sister wrapping her arms around her fellow blonde, starting to cry into the girl's shoulder.

Ruby stepped in just after her sister. The girl looking worse for wear. Cuts all over her arms and legs, with a few still bleeding. Her clothes soiled from unknown causes.

Jaune cast a glance towards Yang, who was still hugging Marron. Tears streaming down her face, mixing with the dust and dirt present on the skin and leaving two identical trails on her cheeks. The girl's sclera puffy and red from her crying. It was then she looked up at him, staring the boy directly in his eyes. Several more streams began emanating from beneath her eyelids. Yang's emotions were out there for all to see.

They were tears of joy.

Jaune's heart began thumping loudly in his chest. Almost painfully so. A simple look from his crush, causing the boy's stomach to twist into knots. It took everything to fight back the urge to give in to the swirl of emotions inside his head. A tinge of moisture cropping up from behind his eyelids.

Except he wasn't as happy with this event as she was.

It's why Jaune turned away and looked towards the floor. A mixed bag of emotions he was handling made this reunion a bittersweet one to him. The constant worrying about his family taxed heavily on his mind. Jaune wanted to be happy or downright excited, but he wasn't getting that feeling. A piece of him wanted to go right up there and hug Yang as well. There was something else keeping him from doing anything else, but running from the scene.

Jaune knew he was happy to see her, however. Even if he couldn't necessarily feel that way like Yang was.

 _Ugghh, I feel like an ass... I should be happy that Yang's alive!_

Before anything else could be said and the moment was allowed to continue for any longer; Ruby took another step, and her legs promptly gave out. Yang let out a shout and tried to reach for her. Jaune and Ren, however, managed to rush to her side, catching the girl before she could hit the ground. The two men lifted her small frame up, using themselves as crutches to support her weak legs.

 _Oh shit... What's wrong, Ruby?!_

Jaune's heart leapt into his throat. The suddenness of Ruby's collapse, causing a surge of adrenaline in response. It frankly, scared the shit out him.

"Get her to the kitchen," Jaune ordered with urgency, moving through the crowd which parted with their approach.

Everyone else followed behind them with Nora skirting around the guys and dipping into the kitchen. The sound of a faucet dumping water into a glass emanated from within. Jaune rounded the corner, finding Nora rushing towards a nearby chair to turn it towards the trio.

"Set her down here," Ren said, taking the burden of carrying her from Jaune. He dropped Ruby into the chair and grabbed a glass of water, handing it to the girl. The ravenette then kneeled in front of the chair, beginning to examine Ruby to figure out what was wrong.

Yang came around from behind Ren and butted him out of the way. He tried to protest but got a stern glare from the older sister. Instead, the boy resigned himself to just standing around, waiting to see what was wrong. He shot a glance over to Jaune, seeking some idea, but only got a shrug from the blonde.

"Sorry, I just got light-headed," Ruby admitted weakly, before taking a sip of water. She sported a mixed look of embarrassment and shame due to her scaring everybody.

"It's all right, don't apologise," Yang reassured, pushing the glass back up to Ruby's lips. Her eyes were lasered focused on her younger sister, scanning every inch of her body for injuries. The girl had clearly gone into 'big sister mode.' Yang only spared a parting glance towards the other teens in the room.

"So how did you guys get out of the city," Nora asked, propping herself up on the far side of the kitchen's island. "You don't have a car..."

"Yeah, what happened?"

"Guy's, we should give them a few seconds," Vi spoke up firmly, trying to convince the others to give her some space. "They just got here!"

"It's fine," Yang calmly asserted, standing up and turning towards the others. She tried to put on her best smile, but it felt forced. The girl took a second to get her story together, scratching the back of her head. "But... can we talk about this over food, I'm starving. We haven't eaten anything since this morning..."

 **[A half-hour later]**

Ruby had quickly scarfed down her food and went upstairs to take a shower. Zwei following her a few seconds later, disappearing upstairs. This left the others to listen to Yang tell their story on her own. Everyone gathered around the kitchen, taking care to piece together every detail, so they could get the whole picture.

What Yang told them, however, was quite unsettling. Ren and Nora's encounter with the Infected was just as startling, yet quite similar in other aspects. Both stories keeping Jaune and the others on the edge of their seat as if they were listening to someone giving them an oral retelling of a suspenseful thriller. They knew the outcome, but it still ended up that way.

Jaune was particularly impressed with how Yang handled her flight from Vale. It was more impressive than Ren and Nora's by a longshot. Traipsing around a city that descended into chaos for several days, avoiding hordes of Infected, and searching for a car while looking out for your younger sister really made it an easy call. It showed Yang's determination to get her sister somewhere safe but did nothing to discredit Ren or Nora's. They just got luckier.

Yang's story also gave Jaune a great deal of knowledge on the Infected. He could see Ren's brain working overtime to process the information just like he was. Nora was also coming up with something else that would inevitably prompt a new idea or direction of thinking.

However, what Jaune learned from Yang, corroborated what the news told him earlier along with Ren's story. The Infected seemed to travel in groups due to some unknown purpose. It may have been by chance they grouped up or due to them all responding to a stimulus at the same time. It needed to be confirmed at a later date through more observation before Jaune would give his conclusion. Another thing, which proved to be very important was how easily the Infected were killed. Bashing in their brains seemed to be the best way to do it. Either that or a gunshot to the head.

Who wouldn't that kill?

"Okay, Yang, I need you to go back through everything again," Ren insisted, sounding like he was giving an interview with a suspect. A note pad and paper sitting in front of him. Nearly three sheets back-to-back of the book were filled, and he was halfway through the current. "There may have been something we missed..."

" _Ren_ ," Marron snapped, sounding annoyed with the boy at the very least. "What the hell?! Can't you see she's been through enough already?!"

"I'm doing this because we need to know everything," Ren shouted back, losing his composure both in body language and in tone.

 _This argument is going nowhere..._

Jaune tuned out their arguing for a few moments to look over at Yang. She didn't seem visibly stressed by the bickering going on among the teens or anything right now. She only looked dirty and tired. However, he didn't want to force Yang to relive something she didn't want to. Even if the information could help their case.

"Are you sure you want to keep going," he asked in a calmer tone. One more sympathetic than Ren's. Although his was merely the product of obvious stress and a desperate search for information. "You don't have to if you don't want to..."

Yang glanced over at him, holding her eyes on the boy for a second while she processed what he said. Jaune felt she was sort of out of focus right now, but there was a multitude of reasons for that to happen. After thinking about it, however, Yang gave him a nod.

"I'm all right, Jaune," she whispered softly. "I can do it... I'm a big girl, you know?" A genuine smirk crept up along her lips.

The quip, however, prompted a snort from the boy.

"If you say so, then," Ren confirmed, bringing everyone's attention back onto him. His tone still sounding annoyed with the Arc sister. "Yang, go back to the last Infected you and Ruby fought. The one you killed with the car door..."

Another one of the reasons why Jaune was a little afraid of Yang. Sure, he and Ren were able to tussle with the Infected in a limited capacity, but Yang's methods were a bit more violent.

"Okay..." Yang muttered, cupping her chin with her right hand. "Hmm... Well, she just sort of snuck up on us. I was trying to get a car to start, and the engine wanted to turn over but wouldn't. I got pissed and smacked the steering wheel a few times because I was really hoping she was going to be the one!"

"Then you heard the Infected behind you," Ren asked, intertwining his fingers and planting his elbows on the table.

"Yes," Yang replied, nodding her head.

"She might have heard the car turning over," Nora interjected, proposing the idea.

"Maybe," Jaune partially agreed, but not giving a definite confirmation. "But don't the Infected come charging in, screaming whenever they hear something loud? A car turning over isn't quiet..."

"Yeah," Yang agreed immediately, yet almost excitedly. "When Rubes and I had to get past some other Infected, we used a rock to smash a window! They ran after it growling, and screaming, but that one didn't!"

"It's also possible, she may have been on another street, or just barely heard it," Ren proposed. "The Infected might not all act the same either..."

 _That's terrifying... It would be easy to just avoid Infected if we knew they all exhibited the same patterns of behaviour. But they're people, it's possible there can be some variety..._

Yang's face lit up as if she just had some sort of 'Eureka' moment. The girl standing to her full height and slammed her hands down on the table.

"I just remembered this," she squawked loudly, but also trying to keep her voice down. "When I hit her with my crowbar, she said something!"

"What," three of the teens replied at the same time.

That got everyone's attention.

"Yeah, I couldn't understand it, but it sounded like she was in pain," Yang explained with a fervour to her voice. "It was weird because I've never heard one so speak before!"

 _Well shit..._

"We saw one fall off a building, and it made groaning sounds," Nora added on. "But they all do that! Nothing Ren and I ran into looked like it was in pain either..."

Most of the sounds Nora and Ren described were akin to growls. Nothing sophisticated, but more closely related to noises a monkey or an ape would make. Signs for possible loss of higher brain functions? Maybe it was why they were so aggressive too?

"They might have too many hormones pumping through their blood to feel any pain," Ren proposed, gesturing with his right hand. "But if the one Infected you ran into could get a word or two out; some might be able to retain parts of themselves. The others may have been too far gone... However, did you see anything else after you picked up the bike?"

Yang shrugged her shoulders. "No, she began, sounding nonchalant about it. "It took us a couple hours to get out of the city because of the roadblocks and stuff in the streets, but there were only a couple Infected running around. Lots of gunshots, though. When we stopped a few times to figure out where we needed to go, we could hear them off in the distance. After that, we just stuck to the highway and kept driving. They were really backed up because of all the people who were trying to get out, but all of those cars were empty. I think they just dumped the cars and hoofed it."

"We heard something about that as well," Jaune jumped in. "A lot of people got attacked by Infected because they were stuck on the highways, waiting for traffic. So, the people who were closer to the city probably just wanted to get out of there, even if they had to run..."

"Yeah, but we didn't see anyone else out there," Yang continued, sounding a bit down at the implication. "The entire time we drove through the traffic jam, there was not a single person! It was so creepy..."

"I feel you," Dante declared.

 _Kind of like an apocalypse style video game..._

"After a while though, we kind of ran out of gas," Yang explained, rubbing the back of her head. "I dumped the bike on the side of the road, and we ran the rest of the way here. Didn't see anything else... A lot more cars, but no Infected!"

Ren closed the notebook after getting a few more lines down.

"How long ago did you dump the bike," he asked, setting down his pencil.

"Ummm... Earlier this afternoon~," she replied hesitantly, drawing out her last word.

"How long have you guys been running," Vi asked in a surprised tone.

"What time is it?"

"Two-thirty..."

"We started pushing through the traffic jam after noon, but I think we didn't get out of it until fourish... Then we ran out of gas..."

"Okay then~," Marron cut in, stopping the conversation from going any further. "We're done for now!" She looked over at Ren and gave him a stern glare. "Yang, go take a shower, and get some rest!"

"I agree," Ren spoke up, pushing himself away from the table. His tone returning to some degree of normality. "I'll look over everything we have now, and we'll discuss this in the morning."

...

Jaune plopped himself down on the stairs leading to the foyer. A light breath escaping his lips. The urge to sleep wholly lost on him despite his previous attempts. Not that sleep would help him anyway. The anxious air about the room made getting well-rested almost impossible.

It was an excellent time to think about things, however. Most notably, Yang and Ruby showing up in the middle of the night. It brought a modicum of relief to his mind. Jaune was thankful for that weight to be taken off his chest. He really needed it.

But there was still a lot of other people Jaune had come to care for that were still missing. He couldn't get any rest until he knew whether or not they were all right. A few minutes ago, Jaune had tried to go through his contacts to see if there was any dice on being able to contact them. Nothing had come of it, of course, but he could at least say he tried again.

Ren was right.

The creaking of the stairs drew his attention away from the space in front of him. Jaune turned around to see Yang standing at the top of the stairs. The blonde was wearing some spare clothing she probably got from one of his sisters. An oversized long sleeve shirt someone stole from Jaune some time ago, and a pair of black running shorts.

From what Jaune could see, aside from her fantastic looking legs, was that Yang looked much better than earlier. The dirt once coating her face and hair had been washed clean. Some small cuts remained on her arms and legs, but were closed or had bandages placed over them. The girl still looked exhausted beyond all compare, however. No amount of showering could fix that.

"Hey," Jaune muttered, sliding to the side of the stairs. "How's Ruby?"

"Fine, threw up, but passed out cold," Yang explained, flopping down next to him and taking the centre part of the stairs. She grabbed a bundle of her still-wet hair and threw it over her shoulder. "What about you? Can't sleep?"

Jaune shook his head. "Nope..." he uttered. "Tried calling my parents again, and got nothing! Besides... too uncomfortable to sleep."

A snort escaped Yang's nose. "I feel you..." she sympathised. "That stupid fight or flight response is making me all jumpy. I keep feeling like something is about to jump out from around the corner!"

 _Yeah... You weren't here when Nora had her nightmare!_

"But how's everyone else doing," Yang asked, turning towards him. "I can't help but feel things are a _little_ tense around here..."

 _Understatement of the year..._

"Yeah... no kidding," he remarked sarcastically. "I'm waiting for someone to start arguing... Not like what happened earlier, but a _bad_ one."

Jaune had actually never seen Ren so angry before. He probably was just stressed out like everybody else, though. Things like this happen. People lose their cool.

"Other than that... I guess Vi, Marron, and I are worried about the rest of our family," Jaune continued, bringing the mood down to a low with this tangent.

Vi was probably the best at keeping it to herself. She had been occupying herself with taking care of their younger sisters. Marron was dealing with Dante's issues but wasn't in a great place herself.

"I think _everyone_ knows that," Yang emphasised. "It's written all over your guy's faces! Besides... who wouldn't be?!"

Yang only stated the obvious. However, Jaune was already preparing for the inevitable where she and Ruby would be in his position. They were just as close given how much the two looked up to their dad and uncle.

"I see," Jaune muttered under his breath. "So, what do you guys plan on doing tomorrow then?" The boy felt like getting as far away from this gloomy subject as possible. Planning was where it was at.

However, he didn't get a response.

A moment later, something pressed against him. Jaune tensed up at what seemed like a head laying on his shoulder. His body refused to move from this spot, thinking Yang was trying to have a serious moment with him. That cliche where the girl lays her head on the main protagonist's shoulder.

" _Snecchhechech_!"

Jaune looked to his left to find Yang slumped against him. Her neck bent at an awkward angle as the rest of her body succumbed to gravity, but her head clung to his arm. The girl soundly asleep with a slight dribble of drool coming from the corner of her lip.

 _So boring I put her to sleep... Fitting._

 _But I can't leave her here._

Jaune shook off Yang, setting her down lightly on the stairs. He stood up and worked at a method to get her off the staircase. The boy wanted to do this without waking her up.

 _Maybe I can just lift her up..._

He slid one of his arms under her back and the other under her legs.

Jaune clenched his jaw, doing everything to prevent him from feeling something. He was not going to derive any joy out of this. It was like picking up one of his little sisters and dropping her off in her room. Nothing significant about it.

Lifting with his back, Jaune brought Yang off the ground and into his arms. The blonde was remarkably light, despite her musclulature. Except it was like lifting a hundred-and-thirty-pound stick of butter. The girl's limp body threatening to slip out from under his arms and hit the floor.

 _Come on, Jaune... You can do it! She ain't that heavy..._

Jaune hiked her body up a little to get a better hold. A few more feet later and the two made it across the room without any problems. The boy laid her down gently and grabbed a nearby blanket, covering her with the cloth.

Looking down and seeing her sleeping peacefully brought Jaune's heart to a heavy beat. He shook it off and turned away from her, trying to ignore his feelings. There was a bigger fish to fry. So, Jaune sat down next to the farthest most edge of the couch near her feet.

The guns were right there in case he needed one, and Jaune said he'd watch the house. So, he was going to just that.

* * *

 **I'll be back for part two in a few weeks. Don't worry! It will be worth it!**


	11. Day 17: Part Two

**Okay, so due to all of the Coronavirus bullshit (Or the C-Virus as I like to call it for those Resident Evil fans out there,) my college got closed down and I've moved to online classes. The last two weeks have been a clusterfuck for me, trying to move all of my stuff out of the dorms when all DOD personnel have a travel ban placed against them and their families. My house even got quarantined. Not some stay at home order, but actually quarantined. (None of us have it, but since my dad works at a prison, the government can't take the chance, and my brother also works at an old folks home.)**

 **Fun times!**

 **I did have this chapter halfway done already, but couldn't complete it due to reasons. I was working on a different chapter for You've Got To Use Silver, but learned I really hated what I wrote, so I've decided to scrap that chapter and rewrite it. DrSanjiZant asked me when the next chapter for this was going to come out, so I decided to finish this one up and get it out there.**

 **Also save all questions for what happens in this chapter for after you read it. I explain some stuff at the bottom.**

* * *

Yang jolted awake, sitting up as she looked around the room to survey her surroundings. She expected to be somewhere inside an abandoned building or even her own house, but neither was correct. The brightly lit living room of the Arc house was where Yang found herself.

As the faint hum of white noise filled her ears, Yang slowly calmed down. Her entire body feeling as though it was about to jump out of its skin. This sudden surge of adrenaline like that of stirring from a nightmare. Waking up in an unfamiliar place after stomping through hell would have made anyone this ancy.

 _Why am I on the couch?!_

Yang wasn't sure about what happened after getting out of the shower and checking on Ruby yesterday. Her exhaustion from everything that happened over the last few days taking a toll on her body and mind. Yang guessed she passed out on the couch and didn't remember. Happened to her a few times after a hard work-out or coming home from a game.

She lifted her legs slightly to swing them over the couch. As Yang did so, both limbs screamed out in pain. Her entire body followed, aching as if given a massive tetanus shot in every extremity. The soreness in her abs prevented the girl from getting a full breath in. Even trying to turn over so she could fall off the couch proved pointless.

 _God damn it..._

Through sheer willpower, Yang contorted her entire body around to face the TV. The pain in her limbs climaxing as she managed to sit up, but then subsiding when settling down. A few laboured breaths left her mouth as Yang tried her hardest to relax.

"Oooowwwww," a voice uttered from her left. His groan, long and drawn out.

Yang glanced to where the voice came from, peeking over the side of the couch. A mop of blonde hair rising from the floor was a surprise for the girl. The boy rubbed the back of his head, seeming to be in pain from something. Yang herself was confused as to why he was here.

"You kicked me in the back of the head," Jaune whined, pushing himself off the floor. He stood up and dusted himself off before stretching his limbs. The boy's posture was in an almost slouched state and obviously uncomfortable.

"Sorry," Yang apologised curtly, trying to muffle a snort. She watched Jaune take two steps, limping as he did so. The boy's body probably feeling as stiff as her's did. "You slept on the floor?"

"Huh," he mumbled, turning around to face her.

Jaune's hair was in a mess. While it was usually scraggly and such, this was a bit different. Half the hair on his head was pushed down in a way indicating the side in which he slept on. The boy hadn't had the time to wash up or even fix his ruffled hair, telling Yang he was just woken up.

"Yeah..." he continued, bringing a hand up to his face and wiping the sleep out of his eyes. "You passed out on the stairs, and I let you take my spot... No other couches to sleep on, so I just stayed here."

 _Oh..._

"You didn't have to," Yang countered, shuffling to the edge of the couch. She tried to stand up but couldn't find the strength in her legs to perform such an action. The pain from her sore muscles forced the girl to sit back down.

"It's fine," Jaune replied, making it seem like it was no big deal. "I have to stay down here to watch the house, and if I tried carrying you back upstairs, I would have dropped you."

A snort escaped Yang's nose. "Is that your way of saying I'm too heavy for you to carry?"

Yang understood the reason why Jaune had to watch the house. With all of the craziness going on around these past few days, it was needed to ensure their safety. It didn't discount the gesture of giving up his spot to the girl, however. She appreciated that Jaune was willing to wake up with a sore ass for her.

Jaune let out his own little laugh, seemingly figuring out the joke. "No... heh... No, if I dropped you, then it would be like waking up a sleeping bear during hibernation. So, option number B was the best pick."

Yang giggled at the idea. "Don't worry Jauney Boy, I wouldn't have hurt you too bad... Just a few bruises here and there," she jested, cracking her knuckles on one fist.

Jaune visibly cringed as he thought about it. Instinctively, an arm came up to rub his bicep. Probably a memory from when Yang gave him a light punch to the shoulder.

"Yeah, that's gonna be a hard pass," Jaune replied, holding his hands up in a manner one would when trying to surrender. "I'm a fragile little snowflake..."

"Heh," Yang laughed a little, pushing herself up a bit with her arms. "Calling yourself fragile? How do you think my legs feel?"

"Like jello?"

She shook her head up and vigorously, winching as she did so. The stiffness in her neck preventing the girl from doing it too quickly. Actually, the right side of her neck had the worst of it.

"Yeah... real bad," she confessed, reaching a hand out for Jaune to pull her to her feet. "Gimme a hand, I can't stand up on my own."

"Here..." Jaune mimicked Yang, grabbing onto her hand and pulling the girl to her feet.

As Jaune did so, Yang took a second to get a feel for his grip. His hands were actually very soft. As if he used lotion on them regularly. This supple texture was countered-balanced by the rough callouses at the top of his palms.

'Pleasant' was all she could describe it as. Not in a bad way either.

When Yang was brought to her feet. She took a few moments to get used to standing up. Her balanced was fine, but the strength was similar to a newborn horse or giraffe. Each limb wobbled a bit as she took her first few steps. When Jaune was sure Yang wasn't going to fall over, he left her to get ready for the morning.

 _Okay, time to get Ruby..._

 **[Upstairs]**

Climbing up the staircase wasn't as much of a challenge as Yang thought it would be. The occasional sting in her legs when lifting them was ignored for the sake of her current goal. Checking in on Ruby to see if she was all right was probably the most important thing in the world to her. Going through any pain would be worth it.

Rounding the corner at the top of the stairs, Vi passed by, heading in the opposite direction Yang was going in. The girl wasn't looking too well-rested, maybe having only gotten a few hours of sleep since the younger blonde had arrived. Vi's hair was all a mess, and she had bags under her eyes. The girl even moved at a sluggish pace.

 _Jaune was right about his sister's mood. Poor girl looks like she hasn't gotten any sleep._

 _I should talk to her sometime._

As Yang pushed forward, there was not another soul upstairs to distract the girl. After a few steps, she was standing in front of the upstairs guest room. Yang tentatively put a hand on the doorknob, pressing her ear against it to listen in. Her actions were out of caution from the previous encounters with Infected. It was almost subconscious to the girl.

Once Yang realised what she was doing, she let go of the door, silently stepping away to compose herself. Her nerves were already getting the better of her. Yang had to convince her body that it wasn't in any danger. Except her hands still shook like she was shivering. Even a lump began forming in her throat.

 _Okay, Yang, get a hold of yourself... You're at Jaune's house..._

She went for the door handle once again, grabbing it and turning the knob gently. With a little creak, the door opened as Yang pushed forth. The first look inside the room was of darkness with low light pouring through the shades. As the door fully opened, however, Yang heard growling from within.

 _What the fuck?!_

Yang froze in that instant, not recognising the sound. A deep rumbling growl from the bottom of someone's throat. It was coming from within the darkness where Ruby's bed would have been. Every fibre of her body started telling her to run in the opposite direction and to grab some blunt object.

However, the girl hesitantly reached for a nearby light switch, preparing herself for the worst. Her body did not wish to take chances, associating growling with the sounds of Infected. Her mind told Yang that this was her baby sister, and she had to make sure. Fleeing would never be an option with her.

Flicking on the lightswitch brightened the room up instantly. Yang scanned the entirety of the small bedroom looking for an Infected where she thought there should have been one. Yet, there was nothing here. No person standing intimidatingly in the corner watching her every move from the shadows. No Infected charging out from the centre of the room.

All there was was a single corgi sitting on the bed facing her. His jowls were pulled back, exposing his teeth for a fraction of a second after the lights turned on. Once, he realised who he had been growling at, Zwei immediately calmed down and ran up to her. His tail wagging excitedly from side to side.

 _Fuck you dog... Scared the shit out of me..._

Yang let out a sigh of relief, finally figuring out what that growling was. She really needed to calm down. Maybe a stiff drink or watching a movie would do it? However, before anything else, she needed to check on Ruby.

She headed over to the bed and leaned down to inspect the girl's condition. Ruby was sleeping peacefully, having wrapped her arms around a pillow and making it into an improvised body pillow. Her soft breaths giving Yang some modicum of peace, knowing that someone at least got a good night's sleep.

"Hey, Rubes," Yang calmly spoke up, trying to stir the younger girl from her sleep. She placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder, beginning to lightly rock the girl back and forth.

Suddenly, Ruby snapped awake, grabbing Yang's wrist and letting out a short cry. Her eyes darted around the room, inspecting it for danger or anything out of the ordinary. Before this could continue any further, Yang clasped both hands over Ruby's shoulders, holding the girl still.

" _Yang_ , w-what's going on," Ruby spat out fearfully, still trying to get her bearings. Her speech choking up halfway through. It sounded like the girl woke up from a nightmare or was expecting Yang to come running in to tell her there was an Infected.

"Hey-hey-hey-hey, it's okay," Yang tried placating the girl, dropping down to her eye level. "You're at Jaune and Marron's house. It's all right... Just came up here to see how you were doing!"

 _Jeez, she's got it bad..._

A few heavy breaths and Ruby was able to calm down just a little bit. The girl still felt tense as all hell. She was more like a statue than a human being. However, her hands and even the rest of her body shook nonstop. The sensation of fear running strongly through her.

"R-Really," Ruby asked again, making sure. Clearly, a part of her mind didn't believe anything that was going on around her. Like Yang, Ruby was still feeling anxious over what happened the last few days.

 _Almost there, Rubes... Just calm down a bit._

"Yep," Yang reassured the younger girl confidently. "The others are probably getting breakfast ready... You want me to bring you some?"

 _She needs to grab a bite to eat... Haven't had a proper meal in days. Doesn't help when you barf up everything._

Yang just needed to keep Ruby from passing out like she did yesterday. The girl probably spent every last drop of glycogen left in her body when the two walked to Jaune's house. She wasn't just running on empty, the dial went below the red bar at this point. A diet of granola bars and gas station food wasn't helping her out either.

"No," Ruby said, swallowing back her fear. "I-I think I can do it." She began pushing herself up with her left arm. "I'm really - _OW_!"

Ruby let out a yelp as she tried getting off the bed. Her entire body seemed to shut down again, and the girl grabbed her shoulder in pain. As she writhed there for a moment, Yang noticed whenever Ruby moved, she would wince in pain. Like her entire body was aching beyond belief.

 _That's got to hurt..._

"I'm gonna take a wild guess and say you're sore too," Yang asked, getting up off the bed. Her own legs crying out as they were feeling the burn too.

"It hurts a lot," Ruby whined. Her body seemingly deflating as it settled into a comfortable position.

"Want me to find you some painkillers," Yang followed up immediately.

Her reply was what counted as a nod in Ruby's head. Or what she could manage. The slight tilt of her neck going back and forth confirmed she was feeling stiff all over. Not just in her legs and working muscles.

 _I'll take that as your consent..._

"All right, I'll be back in a little bit," Yang declared, turning around and heading out of the room.

 _Okay... Maybe there's some ibuprofen laying around that I can give her._

Yang had some stuff lying around her house that would have helped. Stuff for menstrual cramps or her dad's painkillers. Both would have done wonders for Ruby's situation had Yang been able to take any of it with her. Really, anything would be useful to at least allow Ruby's muscles to relax or take her pain down a few notches.

 _Well, Jaune and Marron's dad is pretty old, and he's in the Army. Guy probably has the plug for a crapton of painkillers._

Crossing the hallway and dipping into the bathroom, Yang found the medicine cabinet. Unlatching the child safety lock on it, she opened it up and began looking through it. The sounds of pill bottles bumping into each other filled the room two seconds later.

 _Okay... let's see whatcha got in here!_

There was a lot of cold and flu medicine. Most of it was either generic or brand name stuff. Yang suspected Momma Arc stocked up in case one child gave a virus to all the other kids. Other than that, there were some muscle tranquilisers, and a lot of stuff Yang could not pronounce or even knew what it was. The names weren't anything she had heard of before.

"Yang," a voice came from behind her. "What are you doing?"

The suddenness of the other person's entrance caused Yang to jump slightly, knocking over half of the pill bottles in one fell swoop. The small plastic containers fell to the ground in probably the loudest way possible, scattering themselves all over the floor. Yang tried to catch some of them but was unable to, causing her to drop many more to the ground.

"Goddamnit," Yang cursed as she kneeled to grab some of the bottles. A head of blonde hair appeared to her left, Yang recognising it as Marron. She dropped down and grabbed some of the containers as well.

Of course, this would happen to her. Just her luck. Not like it was any better over the past few days. Yang just wished she got a break for once. This was all beginning to stress her out more and more as she thought about it.

" _Sorry_ ," Marron apologised, sounding like she really meant it. "I shouldn't have snuck up on you..."

 _You say that now..._

"It's fine," Yang replied curtly, grabbing the last few bottles of pills and setting them back on the shelf. "Just a bit jumpy..." Yang turned around to face her fellow blonde. "I'm looking for some ibuprofen for Ruby. She's so sore she can't move."

"Oh... that bad," she asked, cocking her head to the side. Her expression shifting to a more concerned one.

"Take a girl who's never worked out a day in her life and make her run all day for three days while carrying a dog around," Yang began, crossing her arms. "Then make her walk/run another twenty miles with two breaks... You get the picture?"

In contrast to Yang, Ruby wasn't the one for physical activity. She was a mechanic. The tinkerer. Working with her hands to either pull apart the guts of a car or soldering electronics for a class project. Ruby had actually made some pretty impressive stuff when she was kid, earning her a few prizes at school conventions. Unfortunately, that didn't work in her favour this time.

Marron nodded twice, showing Yang her understanding. "Come on, I know where we keep the good stuff," she said, turned around and signalled for the girl to follow. Her blonde hair disappearing beyond the threshold of the bathroom door.

Yang was right on her trail, catching up with the Arc as she headed to the far end of the upstairs hallway. While walking around up here, Yang took a moment to admire the many paintings and portraits dotting the walls. Many were art projects or family photos with either Marron's household or extended family. The compositions were extraordinarily well-done and on the verge of being professional-grade work.

It was a lot compared to her own household. Yang's place didn't have that many _complete_ family photos, or it was just herself, Ruby, and her dad in a few dotting the house. It made the Arc house seem homier in a way. Yang almost felt jealous at that.

As Marron reached her destination, she grabbed a door handle to the farthest room and opened it. Inside was a master bedroom obviously belonging to her parents. Most of the room was neat and orderly aside from the errant pair of uniform socks or a stack of files on the study. There were a lot more frames in here as well. Yang was beginning to wonder if they ever ran out of wall space.

Yang stood around while Marron ducked into the master bathroom to gather the needed medicine. She guessed the Arcs kept certain drugs away from the kids and only the safer stuff readily on hand. There was some logic to it as young kids would get into anything and end up hurting themselves. Made the experience Marron's parents had seem more obvious.

"Okay..." Marron spoke up, exiting the bathroom with a pill bottle. "400 mg of prescription ibuprofen... Use it wisely." The blonde tossed the bottle to Yang. She caught with both of her hands.

A quick glance down at the label showed some basic pharmacy stuff. The name on the bottle, however, brought chills up Yang's spine. The name Nicholas Arc. Yang had no idea why it made her feel that way.

 **[Kitchen]**

After giving Ruby some painkillers, Yang left the girl to her own devices. It would take some time for her younger sister to be up and moving with how much pain she was in. Yang didn't feel like sitting around and waiting for breakfast to be ready, however, so she went downstairs to see if there was anything she could do.

Coming down and into the dining room, Yang spotted Ren and Nora sitting at the dining table. The boy hunched over the notebook he had been writing in yesterday. A mug of coffee in front of him that had scarcely been touched. Nora, on the other hand, had a glass of orange juice in front of her and seemed to be in the same state as Ren. Both exhausted as if they had been up most of the night as well.

Yang was almost glad for the sleep she got last night.

"Sup' guys," Yang greeted the pair. The immediate response she got was the two teens staring at her. Nora let out a yawn and Ren's head bobbed forth as if he had fallen into a microsleep.

 _Is this house full of insomniacs?_

Yang had her own apprehensions for sleeping for long periods. She had to wake up every few hours to make sure everything was secure in her and Ruby's shelters. Her anxiety would go through the roof until everything seemed all right in her mind.

" _Heyyy_ , Yang," Nora eventually replied sleepily. She brought her right arm onto the table, propping her head on top of it. "How did you guys sleep...?"

Yang let out a little laugh. "Best night of sleep I've ever gotten," she explained confidently. Her body readily agreed.

"Good... for you," Nora congratulated, beginning to nod off.

"We've been up the entire night going over the information we've gathered," Ren took over, explaining in a less exhausted tone. "Other than what we went over earlier, there's nothing new."

 _Damn..._

Yang hoped Ren's brain would go to town and piece something together. Maybe when everyone got together, they would be able to figure something out? Having both her and Ruby's input might help some. At least it would be a start.

"Well... I guess I'll leave you guys to it then," Yang concluded, beginning to head into the kitchen. "I'm going to help with breakfast..."

Both Ren and Nora nodded in Yang's direction, acknowledging what she said. The former of the two closing his notebook and taking a sip of the coffee in front of him. Nora fell fast asleep.

...

Turning the corner and coming into the kitchen, Yang looked around to find Jaune and Vi preparing some basic foodstuffs. Eggs with a side of toast it seemed. They were making enough for the ten people living in the house at this moment, but not enough to be considered a large meal.

Yang was fine either way. She didn't feel her stomach could handle anything too rich right now. The girl needed a few days before going back to hamburgers, steaks, or anything really greasy.

With most of the food laid out at the moment, Yang wasn't sure how she could slide in and offer her assistance, however. She might be more of a hindrance than a benefit with the cooking; so the blonde, instead, turned to the nearby cupboards to grab plates and utensils. The sounds of ceramic clinking soon filled the room over the sizzling from the frying pan.

Turning around and setting some of the plates down on the island adorning the centre of the kitchen; Yang noticed a bag resting on top of the granite. Its design that of a pricy backpack made to last someone years. Something her dad would have taken with him to work, holding his laptop or even a lunch. Going to move it off the counter, Yang only then recognised where this accessory came from.

With the bag in her hands, Yang saw the images of the motorcyclist she had taken it from in her head. The feeling of disgust coursed through her body as she watched him writhe there helplessly. His broken limbs on presentation, showing the bone jutting out from within. The sound of his voice calling to her for help. Finally, the moment Yang turned around and ran away, dooming that man to die alone.

Suddenly a wave of nausea struck Yang like a freight train. Her head wracked with dizziness threatening to have the girl collapse right then and there. The air in this room became too much to bear. Too many things going on around her. She needed to leave. A surge of liquid beginning to pool in the back of her throat prompted real action.

Turning and walking out of the kitchen, Yang opened the trash can and dumped the bag inside. Not wasting a moment after, she opened the back door to the patio and stepped outside. The rush of fresh air liberating Yang, for now, allowing a gasp to force air into her lungs.

She wrapped her fingers around a railing and leaned over it. Yang spat some of the salivae that pooled in her mouth into the flower bed below. The urge to vomit stifled with a few more breaths that followed.

 _Fuck!_

Yang cupped her hand over her mouth as she started crying. The tears spilling over her cheeks once again and rolling down her face. Even muffled, the faint sounds of her whimper rang over the background noise. Enough that Yang moved away from the back door to avoid anybody coming to check on her.

She needed this right now. Privately. To just get it out.

However, before it was allowed to continue any further. The sound of a glass falling onto the floor and shattering directed her attention back inside. Normally, she would have just ignored the sound for what she was doing right now, but soon, a cacophony of footsteps all began heading away from the kitchen to another part of the house. These weren't walking steps either, whoever was making these were running.

 _What?_

 _Oh shit! Please don't let this be Ruby again!_

Yang quickly wiped her eyes and made herself presentable before running in the same direction.

Busting through the back door, a mug lay on the ground just inside the kitchen. A pool of coffee and broken ceramic lined the floor. Everything else had been abandoned in an instant. The burner still on, cooking eggs on the frying pan. A piece of toast halfway through being buttered. Yang wasted no time, shutting off the stove before chasing after everyone else.

 _Come on! Where did you guys run off to?!_

Running past the dining room and into the entrance of the living room. Yang turned to see everyone gathered by the front door of the house. Nora and Ren were standing off to the side, but all of the Arcs were gathered around another person. Yang recognised her. It was Mrs Arc.

Each of her children present had wrapped their arms around the woman in a massive group hug. She returned it gleefully. Tearfully, having not seen her children or heard from them for several days during this outbreak. Most of her kids, barring the oldest ones, were crying as well. Most were too excited to even begin crying. Yang was just happy to see them reunited. Jaune especially, given how uplifted his mood was now versus how it used to be.

As the group hug drew to a close, Claire reached for her left shoulder, bearing a pained expression. Seeing this, Yang took note of her condition, finding it to be much like her own when she arrived at the Arc house. However, her scrubs were covered in far more blood and bodily fluids than Yang's clothes. The blonde guessed it was from trying to treat people at the hospital who were injured in the chaos.

"Mom, what's wrong," Vi asked, moving to check on Claire's injured shoulder. The older blonde moved in turn, showing the kids the bandaged wound on her shoulder blade. A simple towel tied around her arm to staunch the bleeding.

"I got bit by one of those Infected," she explained, turning to head inside the kitchen. Some of her kids began to clamour as they started asking questions, but were silenced with a single look from the woman before she spoke. "I'll tell all of you about it in a minute, but we need to clean this wound first."

 **[A Few Minutes Later]**

Mrs Arc sat in a kitchen chair while Vi stood just behind her, working on cleaning her mother's wound. The bite mark on her shoulder was more of a tear in the flesh as Yang saw it. There wasn't a clear sign of any teeth marks to be found. Only a single jagged cut, buried deep into the flesh.

The bite was bleeding slightly, but only a trickle compared to how much blood stained her shirt and towel. However, the laceration wasn't what concerned the children. The redness building up and around the bite mark paired with darkened veins showing beneath the skin was more prominent than the wound itself.

"Hey, Mom," Vi spoke up again, applying an antiseptic to the bite with her gloved hands. "This looks pretty gnarly. You might have an infection."

Marron took a picture of the wound and showed it to the woman. A grimace on her face told the kids about her displeasure towards the sight.

"Jaune, can you grab some amoxicillin from the medicine cabinet," she asked. The boy didn't say anything in response, running out of the room and up the stairs. Claire then looked back to the children and continued. "We've seen bites from these Infected before and treated them with antibiotics. Most turned out fine during follow-ups."

"Really," Ren asked straightforwardly. His energy seemingly having come back to him. "Then how did this spread so quickly? Do you know how it works at all?"

Yang was curious as well. She wanted to know everything this woman had to offer about the outbreak. Mainly to see how they could protect themselves from it or if any medicines could prevent someone from turning into one of those things.

Claire let out a sigh. "We're not sure," she declared, shrugging her shoulders. "We can't even pin down a mode of infection between people. Some get bites and start attacking people only a few hours after. Some are fine with antibiotics and rest. We've seen others with no bites come in with severe food poisoning and they turn in the middle of the night." Claire ran a hand along her jawline. "We started seeing these cases about a week ago, and it became worse every single night. The hospital was packed with so many people we couldn't treat them all. Then people started turning, and the hospital became overrun." She sat up straight and looked at the children with a serious expression. "You wouldn't believe the panic. Our security and police officers were torn apart in front of us. They even set up a barricade outside the hospital in the parking lot, but that didn't stop the Infected from coming over it. When they got inside the building, it turned into a bloodbath. I was inside the pediatric ward last night when one of our kids turned. She tore out one of the nurse's throats, and we just started running. I got tackled on the way out, and that girl bit me. One of the janitors hit her with a fire extinguisher, and she wouldn't go down. That poor girl's skull was crushed, and she still tried to get back up." As Claire finished her story, Yang saw her hands were shaking. This woman was succumbing to fear like the rest of the kids were. Just telling her tale was enough to bring back those fresh emotions.

"I know what you mean, Mrs Arc," Yang spoke up, trying to show the woman someone else knew what it was like to face the Infected. "I've had to kill a few of them when Ruby and I were trying to get out of the city."

"Same here," Ren added on, jotting stuff down in his notebook. "But it doesn't seem blood is how you get Infected either. I got covered in it, killing a bunch of those things."

That's what scared Yang about this so much. She didn't know how you got infected. Some of that blood would have gotten in Ren's mouth or even her own when they killed them. Same for Jaune when Cardin came after him. So, if blood or bodily fluids was not the reason why then what was?

"Hmmm," Claire hummed, loosening up a bit with their encounters. "Then if you guys know how bad this is, we should begin preparing. I don't know how long this is going to take to blow over." A few kids nodded with their understanding. "Tomorrow, we can start looking at places to get some food or even seeing if we can find my husband at the military base he works at."

 **[Later That Night]**

Yang was laid out on the couch with Ruby and some of the others, watching a movie. Aside from the television, things were quiet once again. A calm had taken over the entire house. Her friends were relishing in this peace for the moment, seemingly never having achieved it over the last few days.

The sounds of footsteps coming into the living room turned Yang's attention away from the TV. She looked over to find Jaune appearing from within the darkness. The boy seemed to have a relieved expression on his face. Better than him brooding like he was for the last few days, according to Nora.

"So, how's your mom," Yang asked.

The woman had gone up to her room to get some rest soon after she arrived. Claire claimed to be exhausted, having not gotten much sleep for the last few days. Aside from the usual concern for her children, trying to make sure they were all right, she hadn't said much else even about her experience. Ren didn't try to push for any information Claire knew as the woman knew about as much as the rest of them. Claire wasn't one of the doctors trying to fight this thing on the frontlines, so what would she knew about it anyway?

"She's got a fever," Jaune answered, plopping down on the opposite end of the couch. "Mom also said it might take a few days to show any improvement, but I convinced her that we need to find a doctor. That bite's starting to look worse now anyway. So, we're gonna try for Blacklight tomorrow."

"Want some help with that?"

A part of Yang didn't want to risk going out there again. But she couldn't let Jaune and probably Ren be the ones to do the heavy lifting while she sat on her ass back home. With her knowledge of the Infected and how bad the highway was, it made this an easy choice. Even better, knowing that Ruby would be safe here with her friends. So, the girl volunteered without faltering.

"Sure, why not?"

* * *

 **So, Claire has been bitten!**

 **If you're wondering about why they let her inside the house, the kids don't know the mode of infection for this cordyceps infection. With a doctor telling them she doesn't know either, it makes it more likely they wouldn't suspect a bite. This idea is reinforced by the fact Ren, Jaune, and Yang were covered in infected blood at some point in time. They would have gotten it in their bodies somehow and they were not infected.**


End file.
